Mao's Last Dancer - 3 1/2 smiles

Heartfelt story telling, fine performances and the perfection of ballet all combine to make “Mao’s Last Dancer” a memorable movie. Based on Li Cunxin’s memoir, this movie chronicles Li’s artistic journey as he struggles to first understand ballet, then master it, and finally, love it. In 1972 eleven-year-old Li Cunxin is plucked from his rural home in China to study ballet at the academy in Beijing and become part of Mao’s cultural revolution. Li will grow up to be a ballet dancer of rare talent and eventually visit the US where his defection will become a cause célèbre, reaching all the way to the White House. To be sure, Li Cunxin gets plenty of advice before he leaves China for a three-month stint with the Houston Ballet. But Li quickly realizes that all of the warnings about life in the West, including the ‘unimaginable squalor,’ are not true. Li comes to understand that dancing for the love of dancing gives him a freedom he didn’t have in China.

One of the strengths of this movie is director Bruce Beresford’s willingness to stage several beautiful and compelling performances by Li. And a crucial piece of casting was selecting Chi Cao, a principal dancer with the Birmingham Royal Ballet who was born and trained in China, to play Li as an adult. Though novice actor he might be, Cao is more than able to convey a range of emotions burning beneath the surface. Beresford also draws strong performances from his supporting cast, most notable being Bruce Greenwood who plays Ben Stevenson, the British-born director of the Houston Ballet who first brought Li Cunxin to the US as an exchange student. Kyle MacLachlan is the immigration attorney Charles Foster who intercedes on Li’s behalf when officials at the Chinese consulate in Houston try to kidnap the dancer and return him to China. “Mao’s Last Dancer” is feel-good film bursting with energy and magic. See it. You won’t be disappointed. 8/18/10