Based on the international bestselling novel -- and directed by its author -- BALZAC AND THE LITTLE CHINESE SEAMSTRESS is set in the early 1970's during the later stages of China's Cultural Revolution, as two city-bred teenage friends, Luo and Ma, are sent to a mountainous region for Maoist re-education. The boys are required to perform arduous manual labor, but because of their literacy, the headman also sends them to a larger town to watch and report back on imported communist melodramas. During one of these trips, the two fall in love with the daughter of the most renowned tailor in the region. They refer to her only as the "Little Seamstress," and she captivates them with her innocence and sensuality. When they discover a hidden suitcase filled with banned books by Western writers, mostly French -- Flaubert, Dumas and Balzac among them -- they read these works to the Seamstress for hours on end and teach her to read and write. Inspired by the stories, particularly Balzac and his characters, the Seamstress finds her life profoundly changed. Despite being made in China, both the film and book are banned in Dai Sijie's native country.

OFFICIAL SELECTION
- Cannes Film Festival

FILM LINKS

* A.O. Scott's NY Times review
* BALZAC details on IMDb.com