Today, at long last, I watched 'Mao's Last Dancer'. I say "at long last" because I've had this movie on request for several months. The reviews for the film had been quite good, and while I never depend on reviews, I do take them into account, so I'd had high hopes for the film. I was not disappointed. Quite the contrary, it was far better than I had expected, which was saying something.
The film is based on the autobiography of Chinese dancer Li Cunxin. At the age of 11, Li was picked from a poor Chinese village by Madame Mao's cultural delegates and taken to Beijing to study ballet. In 1979, he was chosen by a cultural exchange program to visit a ballet company in Houston Texas. While there, he fell in love with an American dancer named Elizabeth. At the end of his stay in America, he had decided he didn't wish to return to China. He and Elizabeth got married, but the Chinese consolute refused to accept this. Li's struggle turns into an all-out battle, the Chinese government against Li and his wife, friends, lawyer, and the support of the people of America.
This film was lovely to look at. I don't believe I have ever watched a full ballet in my life, but I couldn't get enough. Chi Cao, who plays Li, dances with such grace and passion that it is impossible to take your eyes off him. But more than that, this film is inspiring. In the beginning, Li does not want to dance. As a child, he is happy to go to Beijing, an experience no one in his peasant village is likely to share in. But dancing itself is not an activity he enjoys. Not until his teacher, Mr. Chan, shares with him a love of Baryshnikov and thus, a joy of dance. He leaves for America and learns to truly feel free.
The ending left me in tears. I haven't cried at a film in a long time. I can't remember the last time I actually cried at a movie, and this one had me close to bawling.
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