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Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress review
:. Director: Sijie Dai
:. Starring: Xun Zhou, Kun Chen
:. Running Time: 1:56
:. Year: 2002
:. Country: China / France
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In China in the early 70's during the dark years of the "Cultural Revolution", Ma and Luo, two teenagers considered as "bourgeois intellectuals" by the system, are sent to the small village of Sichuan in order to be "reeducated" into contact with the population. In this sinister period where the majority of books are prohibited and weddings before the age of 25 are illegal, Ma and Luo will clandestinely discover literature and love at the same time.
Dai Sijie adapted his own novel, Balzac and the little Chinese Seamstress, with the assistance of his usual screenwriter Nadine Perront. The result is unfortunately a bit long with an overly composite story. The main criticism, as often in this case, is that our disappointment is heightened as the film is a mere shadow of the book. By trying to avoid the traps of a literary adaptation—one will notice the great parsimony of voice-overs—and consequently cutting out a lot of elements of the story, Dai Sijie finally lost the heart of his story, making this film a simple small romantic comedy. For example, Ma and Luo's rehabilitation does not appear particularly painful (besides some unconvincing scenes in the mine, it looks more like a holiday in the mountains!), and the Little Chinese Seamstress never manages to look like a mountain woman.
Additionally, at times the effects are overemphasized. The director obviously goes for a tearjerker by playing on a maudlin "twenty years after" scene. The Titanic-like ending, under water, is a striking example, almost too painful to watch.
The acting is decent, even if their characters never have the opportunity to shine—another fault of the screenplay. The main actress Zhou Xun, who was splendid in Lou Ye's Suzhou River, as a blind woman in Chen Kaige's The Emperor and the Assassin, and as Jian's girl friend in Wang Xiaoshuai's remarkable Beijing Bicycle, is one of these actresses whose mere presence lights up the screen. However, here, she is at times not very credible because of her urban poseur attitude. The actors are directed rather poorly, as the scene where the villagers watch fake snow falling into their hands illustrates.
Rather than this dull adaptation, you can enjoy the eponymous book while hoping that Dai Sijie—as a filmmaker—will do better next time.
Laurent Ziliani
 Movie Reviews: 1998 - 2011
Movie Reviews: 2012 - present
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