Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress

by Dai Sijie • 2000

In this enchanting tale about the magic of reading and the wonder of romantic awakening, two hapless city boys exiled to a remote mountain village for re-education during China’s infamous Cultural Revolution. There they meet the daughter of the local tailor and discover a hidden stash of Western classics in Chinese translation. As they flirt with the seamstress and secretly devour these banned works, the two friends find transit from their grim surroundings to worlds they never imagined.