Mao’s Last Dancer (***½)
Directed by: Bruce Beresford
Starring: Chi Cao, Bruce Greenwood, Kyle MacLachan, Amanda
Schull, Camilla Vergotis
Seen: September 2nd 2010
***½ Out of ****
Mao’s Last Dancer is based on the Li Cunxin’s similarly
named autobiography. It chronicles his life as a ballet dancer from his first
tryouts in 1970 Beijing, through his teenager years in the training academy,
and his visit to the USA in 1981, with all the cultural and political ramifications.
The movie starts with Li (Cao) arriving in America in 1981.
He is picked up from the airport by Ben Stevenson (Greenwood), director of the
Houston Ballet Company. The movie switches to him as an 11-year old Chinese peasant,
where he is one of 7 children (they refer to each other as 5th/6th
brother the entire movie), his parents both illiterate just like the Chinese
government wants it. His origins in the ballet world are shown, as he is
selected in a random visit from Chinese government officials to auditions in
Beijing, where he is selected for the Beijing Dance Academy. The movie moves
between 1981 during his American visit and 1970 to 1976 in China with his
ballet training.
We are shown a 1980 visit to China by Ben Stevenson and two ballet
stars, one being Mary McKendry (Vergotis). Stevenson and the dancers are
impressed by the Chinese dancers’ technical skill, but Stevenson feels only one
of them displays passion – Cunxin. A year later Cunxin is allowed to visit
America and here the movie starts showing his 1981 struggle in deciding between
returning to China and staying in the USA, both personally and with his China
(his consulate held him prisoner for 21 hours before allowing him to stay in
America – while banning him from China.
During his stay in America Cunxin meets another ballet
dancer, Elizabeth (Schull). The two connect instantly and start a beautiful
relationship, culminating in their marriage which also forms part of an attempt
to get China to allow Cunxin to stay in America. After the legal battles
however, Cunxin is concerned for his family, it affects their marriage, and
they eventually split up. Most of Cunxin’s relationships are well-portrayed,
but there are two definitely underdeveloped story elements. One is what
happened to Elizabeth after their split up, as she simply drives off-screen. The
second involves his second marriage to ballerina Mary McKendry, which only
happens after the events of the movie, but of which the roots are only barely
touched on – she is just suddenly by his side.
When thing start getting elaborate the emotion starts
falling away as the bombastic nature of the music and the big and bold dancing actually
pushes the viewer away. But when the movie deals in simplicity it is simply
beautiful to the point where tears well up – Cunxin’s fleeting relationship
with a Chinese ballerina, the first dance he and Mary share on stage, and the movie’s
last dance. Even though the movie loses touch at times when some elements are
left untold, overall it is a fantastic celebration of ballet and at stages a beautiful
view of innocent love (Cunxin and Elizabeth’s love is beautifully realised). The
acting is very good by all the actors, and especially Bruce Greenwood simply
stands out in a roll that will almost confuse those who’ve seen him in most of
his other roles. Mao’s Last Dancer will form part of my DVD collection one day
just for the simple beauty the movie brings across, and for the gentle passion
shown for dancing and between some of the characters.
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