Mao's Last Dancer

The Land of the Rising Sun's littlest Red Guard highkicks his way from Communist China to Houston, Texas in this adaptation of Li Cunxin's moving biographic memoir of the same name, Mao's Last Dancer.

Currently residing in sunny Brisvegas as the artistic director of the Queensland Ballet, Cunxin's story is pretty much a wet dream for any writer worth his salt. Unfortunately, some sub-par cinematography, stilted acting and a vaguely Disney-esque retelling by Bruce Beresford results in a shallow translation.

What’s the deal?

At 11, Cunxin (Chi Cao) is plucked from his peasant farming family to become a student at Madame Mao’s Beijing Dance Academy. Despite his initial short-comings, Cunxin works his guts out and basically ends up kicking ballet’s arse - grand jete-style - resulting in a cultural exchange to Houston, TX. There, he gets a green card marriage to all-American gf Liz (Amanda Schull) and becomes estranged from his family after a blackballing by the Chinese Consulate. Unfortunately, no West Side Story-style dance fights.

It's good!

Li Cunxin’s story is pretty remarkable and worth being seen. The dancers are wonderful and the outstanding choreography is beautifully shot. It’s also brilliant to see some Aussie faces in the cast, with Jack Thompson and Aden Young hamming it up in comic supporting roles.

What's wrong with you?

There were three things I found lacking in Mao's Last Dancer:

1. Some odd choices in narrative by writer Jan Sardi, such as stripping out a lot of the Communist China backstory. WTF, that's the best bit! Thus, you're never really convinced of Cunxin's strong relationship to his family, meaning the emotional dilemma set up in the second half falls flat.

2. Using dancers as actors (dactors). They just didn't have the emotional range to pull off the big climax scenes. One scene in the consulate reminded me of 1985 campy Tim Curry romp, Clue.

3. The cinematography looks like it was done a bit on the cheap. Too many studio scenes interspersed with what looked like stock village footage.

Neo-Maxi-Zoom-Dweebery

There's a line in the film where where the Chinese consulate tells our hero that marriages between the East and West are rarely successful. The same could be applied here. Why, oh, why, does Hollywood insist on bastardizing Eastern culture to make it more palatable for Western audiences?

Truth?

Cunxin's story is worth seeing, and it's short (good for those with a weak bladder like myself)! Don't go expecting Ang Lee-style majesty though.

Bender Fist Pumps

#Australiana #Autobiography #Dance #Stan