Mao's Last Dancer

Mao's Last Dancer was a beautiful movie that spoke about the art and tradition of ballet as well as the harsh reality of racism and the comparison between the culture of the then communist China and America.



The movie tells the true story of Li Cunxin. Li is born in a small town in China and is one of many underfed sons to two hard working parents, his life is changed drastically when visiting scouts from Beijing chose him to come and study ballet. Through a rebellious teacher he learns of Western Ballet and by the time Ben Stevenson, the Artistic Director of the Houston Ballet comes visiting he is a standout student. The biggest adventure of his life begins when following this visit Li is invited to America on a short-term scholarship; America is so different to communist China and although at first overwhelmed Li falls in love with this new, free country. Li marries a fellow American ballet dancer, Liz in an attempt to stay in the country; what follows is a war between the Chinese embassy trying to take Li back home as agreed and the American media and public.

Li's struggle to maintain contact with his family while also holding on to his new found freedom is quite heartbreaking but in the end also quite inspiring because it does all work out for him in the end. Because Mao's Last Dancer is largely a true story it is quite inspiring to watch, there is a lot of passion in the film and the dance scenes are really very beautiful, Chi Cao who plays the adult Li is a fantastic dancer but is somewhat awkward as an actor, a certain amount of this can be put down to Li's stunted English in the movie but it is still a little shaky at times.

Mao's last dancer is a real feel-good movie, it would suit more an older audience and probably more female than male. It was a well filmed movie that managed to combine love, patriotism and dance into an agreeable mix. It wasn't my usual type of movie and I enjoyed it for that, even having a small tear at the conclusion. I think the fact that the movie is adapted from a well selling autobiography it is good that it has lived up to the expectations of the audience. One I would recommend.