Something always seems to get lost along the way in book-to-film adaptations. The plot may be spot on, and the characters perfectly developed, yet something is wrong.
However, every once in a while a book-turned-movie gets it right. This is the case with the film adaptation of Li Cunxin’s 2003 autobiography, Mao’s Last Dancer. An exception to the typical book-to-movie rule, director Bruce Beresford and screenwriter Jan Sardi skillfully transfer the true story of luck and ambition onto the big screen and into the hearts of the audience.
The film follows Cunxin’s path (newcomer Chi Cao) from obcurity to stardom. Born the sixth child to a peasant family during Chairman Mao Zedong’s Communist reign in the People’s Republic of China, Cunxin had little hope for a future different from the poverty of his father and mother.
But his life changs forever when the Chinese government selects him as one of 40 children to enter the Beijing Dance Academy. From the age of 11, he grows up at the school, away from his family, while enduring brutal training in ballet and the communist philosophy.
Li blossoms into a strong dancer and is noticed by Ben Stevenson (Bruce Greenwood, Dinner for Schmucks), the Artistic Director of the Houston Ballet Company during its tour in China. Ben arranges for Li to travel to America and train with the company as an exchange student. Li embraces the freedom of American culture and excels as a dancer. The more time Li spends in America, the more he begins to question the communist philosophies engrained in his brain since birth, resulting in a clash with the Chinese government.
For such a touching story, Mao’s Last Dancer is surprisingly funny, particularly in simple cultural misunderstandings between Li and his American friends. For example, Ben takes Li to a disco and one of Ben’s friends asks Li what he thinks of Chairman Mao. Li sits up straight, squares his shoulders and recites a textbook answer of how Mao is the greatest leader ever. Li then asks Ben’s friend if he loves the president of the United States. Ben’s friend replies, “Love him? I don’t even like him.” A serious look spreads over Li’s face and his eyes nervously scan the room. He leans forward and whispers for Ben’s friend to be quiet, to which the friend states, “This is America, Li,” and leaves the table to dance. While Li’s cultural misunderstandings are intended to be comical, they are also sharp reminders of the massive differences between Chinese and American culture in the 1970s.
The humorous approach is a perfect balance to Li’s flashbacks of oppressive Communist China. Li’s memories of his loving family and the mystical Chinese mountains suffocated by Communist red flags, military leaders and Mao pins secured on every chest are heartbreaking. With this background knowledge of Li’s past, it is easy to empathize with his difficulty in enjoying the freedom of American culture when he knows how his family is struggling.
In any story about a professional ballerina’s rise to success, ballet scenes are inevitable. While in some dance movies, watching the actress/dancer prancing on stage is painful, in Mao’s Last Dancer each performance is beautiful and thrilling. It helps that each dance is performed by a trained dancer, not an actor.
While new to acting, Cao trained at the Beijing Dance Academy and the Royal Ballet School. As Li, he is mesmerizing in the dance scenes. His leaps channel the sense of power and freedom of a thoroughbred horse as it races around the track.
While dancing may be his trained specialty, Cao also does a wonderful acting job. Each line is delivered as eloquently as his dancing.
What also separates Mao’s Last Dancer from other dance movies is the fact it is not a sickeningly motivational cliché of passion (Step Up and its sequels, anyone?). Not once is there a speech by Li about how his only dream in life is to dance. Instead, Li is more concerned with concrete aspects of life, such as preserving the freedom he enjoys in America without sacrificing the livelihood of his family.
Mao’s Last Dancer is beautiful, funny and real — everything a film should be — and as a result, a truly enjoyable story.
RATING: 4 stars out of 5
diversions@umdbk.com
