Jeanskynebu the audience applauded

Vashirdfel Simply A Masterpiece

Pluskylang Great Film overall

Arianna Moses Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

keachs I don't normally watch many movies about ballet, I respect it as an art form but as a guy, just don't "get it". This movie however, transcends the ballet aspect because it involves a personal and true-to-life story. I think the film captures well post-revolutionary China and the US in the early 1980's.Even though the story is based on a actual events and you know actors are portraying these real people, the acting is quite believable (both Chinese and Western) . The dancing scenes are quite good, this coming from a layman. Chi Cao's acting was a bit forced as it was apparent that though he was Asian, probably was probably well versed in Western culture. (Being an Westen cultured Asian myself) it takes one to know one. This very slight oversight can be forgiven, given that Chi Cao's dancing is obviously authentic.The early relationship of Li Cunxin and Elizabeth is very well portrayed, capturing the cultural differences which were a bit more pronounced 30 years ago. There were some very touching family scenes that made me cry.I had not heard of Bruce Beresford before, but I see by his filmography that he has had a long and distinguished career and may check out more of his films. Yet another underrated and unappreciated gem of a film which deserves more exposure, squeezed out by the big studios and their big marketing budgets churning out inferior, self gratifying fare.

Ben Larson The most impressive part of this film is when Li (Chi Cao) would dance. He floated across the stage to some incredibly beautiful music. Seeing him dance was worth the time invested in the film.Director Bruce Beresford (Tender Mercies, Driving Miss Daisy) manages to keep tugging at your heartstrings throughout, especially in the scenes in China.It was a little melodramatic outside of the dancing and that keeps it from being rated higher.You certainly can't help becoming emotional at the final scenes in Houston and in China.

gradyharp MAO'S LAST DANCER is a gem of a film that proves that true stories of the travails of artists who must have freedom to express make excellent stories. And in this case the story is true. Adapted from the autobiography by the same name by Li Cunxin and adapted for the screen by Jan Sardi and directed by Bruce Beresford (Driving Miss Daisy, Bride of the Wind, Breaker Morant, Double Jeopardy, etc), this story gradually unfolds in both China and America and is in both Chinese and English. In the author's own words, 'In a small, desperately poor village in northeast China, a peasant boy sits at his rickety old school desk, interested more in the birds outside than in Chairman Mao's Red Book and the grand words it contains. But that day, some strangers come to his school - Madame Mao's cultural delegates. They are looking for young peasants to mold into faithful guards of Chairman Mao's great vision for China." "The boy watches as one of his classmates is chosen and led away. His teacher hesitates. Will she or won't she? She very nearly doesn't. But at the last moment, she taps the official on the shoulder and points to the small boy. "What about that one?" she says." This is the true story of how that one moment in time, by the thinnest thread of chance, changed the course of a small boy's life in ways beyond description. One day he would dance with some of the greatest ballet companies of the world. One day he would be a friend to a president and first lady, movie stars, and some of the most influential people in America. One day he would himself become a star: Mao's last dancer and the darling of the West.' The film opens when Li Cunxin (Chi Cao, who joined Birmingham Royal Ballet in 1995 and was promoted to Principal in 2002.Trained at the Beijing Dance Academy and the Royal Ballet School.His parents were two of Cunxin Li's former teachers at the Beijing Dance Academy. Li wanted Cao to portray him) is only a peasant boy of 11 (played at that stage by Wen Bin Huang) and proceeds to show us the above described aspects of his life, as a teenager (played by Chengwu Guo) during his training in Beijing, and finally in his visit and eventual defection to America in 1979 - 81. Representing the American aspect of the story is the kind generosity of Houston Ballet choreographer Ben Stevenson (Bruce Greenwood) and dancers and members of the support teams for the ballet. Once in America Li discovers his true talent in classical ballet and wants to remain in America, but the Chinese consulate refuses to let him remain in America, even though Li has met and fallen in love and married. Li is torn - between his love for the family he might never see again (Joan Chen is remarkable as his mother), his love for his wife, and his need to remain where he can polish his gifts as a classical ballet dancer. The well publicized hostage situation in 1981 is included in the film as is the gradual transition of the Chinese growth after the death of Chairman Mao. The ending is a bit saccharine, but by the ending the audience is so enraptured with the story that it all works well. Grady Harp

kluseba I didn't expect that much from the movie as I bought it at a cheap price for several reasons. First of all, I am interested in Chinese culture and history and in my university classes, we were recently talking a lot about the era of Mao. Second, I saw that Kyle MacLachlan and Joan Chen would be starring in this movie and I both adored them in the legendary Twin Peaks series and thought it would be interesting to see them come back together for another movie. I also thought that the artistic side of the movie could be beautiful.But I didn't expect too see a masterpiece, maybe the best drama I have ever seen in my whole long life. This movie blew me completely away in every sense of the word.Usually I happen to hate dance movies, but the choreographers' works in this movie are stunning and overall beautiful. The decorations, the music and the dancers are majestic and were touching and you don't have to be a fan of ballet dancing or classical music to feel so.The acting of the movie was brilliantly played by every single actor. Let's underline the stunning performance of the sympathetic, powerful and yet naive Chi Cao who played his role as if he was really living this. The young actors Wen Bin Huang and Chengwu Guo did also a very great job and I hope to hear and see more of those rather unknown talents very soon. The more well known actors like Bruce Greenwood and Kyle MacLachlan are as always very solid and charismatic.The story of the movie is highly intriguing and touching. This is a movie about having dreams and ambitions, about fighting and believing, about hope and despair. There is a very philosophical touch in the whole story and thanks to the brilliant acting you get immediately drowned into this tragic drama where a young dancer must make many sacrifices to hold on to his dreams. When the young dancer finally gets a surprise on stage towards the end of the movie, I just began to cry. This was one of the most magic moments I have ever seen in a movie and I am not a very sentimental person. Someone that won't be touched by the intensity of emotions in this movie must have a heart of ice and stone and someone that is rather emotional might be touched all along the movie. Knowing that this movie was inspired by a true story underlines the intensity of it and shows us that the best stories are often written by life and fate.This movie goes straight to the top ten movies I have seen in my life and I have seen many movies and big classics. This movie is about romance, family, freedom, faith, cultures and dreams and comparable to the great Shawshank Redemption that broke all the records on this site. Needless to say that I slightly prefer Mao's last dancer to it and I hope that this underrated movie might attract your interest and get more popular one day. Everyone that liked Shawshank Redemption must watch this flick and won't be disappointed. This is easily the best movie of the year 2009.