Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress

Teenage best friends, Luo and Ma, sons of 'reactionary intellectuals' are sent to a far-flung outpost for Maoist re-education during China's Cultural Revolution in the 1970s. To keep their spirits up after their arduous work in the fields, they play Ma's violin - which they save from destruction by re-inventing Mozart lieder as songs of the revolution.

Availability

• A DVD of this title is available to hire
• The print of this title is from the National Archive

Cast and Crew

Director

Dai Sijie

Technical information

Certificate

Cert 12A

Language

Mandarin with English subtitles

Country

France-China

Year

2002

Colour

Running time

111 mins