Movie Review - Mao's last Dancer

<Mao's last Dancer>

  

  I cannot put its genre in a nutshell. Some people would call it comedy. Others might say they saw a romance movie. Anyway, the movie is about a man who improved his lot overcoming so many barriers, difficulties and constraints. Li Cunxin is the main character. This film tells us a true story about his life as a ballet dancer.

  Li was an extremely normal boy living in countryside. One day, he got the opportunity to go to Beijing that he had always thought impossible. He left his hometown to be a student of a ballet academy. Thanks to Li's effort, he was able to draw attention of American visitors. He moved to US and became recognized as a great dancer there. At first, Li was in serious anguish over political doubts not to mention culture shock. He realized that US was much better for him to dance as a ballerino than oppressive China. Winning the admission of Chinese government, he stayed in US and revered as a towering figure in ballet.

  

  It was the brief summary of <Mao's last dancer>. Do you like the main character, Li? Maybe you would think him a brave and diligent man. But my view is "short-tempered". He made so hasty decisions that everyone was at a loss what to do. It is said the prudence is the major factor of success. Lacking that, how could he succeed? - the people. Not only his blood-and-tear endeavor, the "people" played huge roles in his success. Could Li adapt himself to the life in America without Ben? Were if not for Liz, he was not able to stay in US. Ben Liz devoted themselves to Cunxin with no strings attached. It was lucky of him to be surrounded by such good people. 

 

  Let's talk about the point the director wanted to drive home. "Frog in a well". What does in mean? If it stayed in a well forever, frog would know that the opening was the whole world. It could 'fly'by escaping the well. Li was flying after being freed from China. Although it was not discreet enough, I go all the way with his decision. China was too narrow to hold him. I did the same thing with Li. I was living in a well named Sokcho. It might be much enjoyable to stay home, grazing on cookies. However, I wanted to see another world, so now I'm here. In the GLPS. The frog decided to adventure despite the risks he had to take. Frog in a well is just a frog in a well, literally. I am a frog who desired something more valuable than the mediocre life in the well. 

  Finally, in this new world, I met someone who really inspires me, just like the teacher of Cunxin. I'm sure that my life has changed because of her. I run to keep up with her. But I once outrun her, I turn around to look at her. It sounds a bit silly....She gave me a fresh impetus to be ardent

  I'll give 5 stars to this movie. Not to mention its dramatic story(I could hardly believe it was a true story), the movie deserves applause in that they kept everything in balance. Comedy, romance, artistry, satire were blending each other. How could they criticize Mao Zedong so humorously? Many directors have failed in that, but <Mao's last dancer> made it. 

  This kind of movie(growth movie)are prone to be filled with cliche after cliche. One of the most interesting things of the movie is that the main character was not a prodigy. I'm already fed up with films spotlighting the heroism of genius. This made me attracted to this dancer. The subtitles were annoying, but it couldn't overshadow the movie. I strongly recommend it to you if you are looking for something to watch and be inspired by.