Mao's Last Dancer

By Turns...Suspenseful! Harrowing! Beautiful!
This review is for in theaters version only, not the DVD.

This inspiring film is based on the autobiography of Li Cunxin, principal ballet dancer who defected to the United States in 1981. It includes the suspenseful account of a 21-hour international incident when Li was held hostage in Houston's Chinese consulate.

The film begins with his childhood in Maoist China. The first portion of the movie was actually filmed there. Li was taken from his family to train at the Beijing Dance Academy while he was still a young child. After harsh, rigorous training, he was chosen for a dance scholarship with the Houston Ballet Company in a cultural exchange program.

There are comical moments as Li adjusts to the soaring skyline of Houston's modern buildings, ATM's that dole out cash, and misconceptions about english words. Actor, Bruce Greenwood, does a great job portraying the artistic director of the Houston Ballet, Ben Stevenson, who takes the young dancer...

ballet magic
Mao's Last Dancer (2009) [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.4 Import - Australia ] This is a wonderful movie for anyone who loves ballet and a good story. Li Cunxin, a Chinese dancer, defected to the USA when he was a young dancer. This is a story of heartbreak, amazing tenacity and the eventual success of this very brave man. I have been fortunate to meet him and he is truly inspirational. It's a great feel-good film that you can watch many times without tiring, plus the dancing is sublime.

Breaking Political Barriers for Art
MAO'S LAST DANCER is a gem of a film that proves that true stories of the travails of artists who must have freedom to express make excellent stories. And in this case the story is true. Adapted from the autobiography by the same name by Li Cunxin and adapted for the screen by Jan Sardi and directed by Bruce Beresford (Driving Miss Daisy, Bride of the Wind, Breaker Morant, Double Jeopardy, etc), this story gradually unfolds in both China and America and is in both Chinese and English.

In the author's own words, 'In a small, desperately poor village in northeast China, a peasant boy sits at his rickety old school desk, interested more in the birds outside than in Chairman Mao's Red Book and the grand words it contains. But that day, some strangers come to his school - Madame Mao's cultural delegates. They are looking for young peasants to mold into faithful guards of Chairman Mao's great vision for China." "The boy watches as one of his classmates is chosen and led away. His...

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