Chi Cao & Amanda Schull in Mao's Last Dancer

A dramatic true story has been made into a diffident biopic in "Mao's Last Dancer," based on the autobiography by Chinese ballet star Li Cunxin.

At 11, Cunxin left his family and his Shandong Province village, at the orders of Maoist officials, and underwent a grim training regimen in Beijing. There he was spotted by visiting choreographer Ben Stevenson (Bruce Greenwood) and an arrangement was made: Li joined the Houston Ballet, where Stevenson ruled the roost, as part of a groundbreaking cultural-exchange program. This led to a defection, a marriage to a fellow dancer, and then, in a series of hurry-up epilogues, a new relationship and yet another new life.

Surely, that's a remarkable series of lives, and just as surely director Bruce Beresford's treatment of the script (by Jan Sardi, who fared much better with "Shine") gets the job done with little distinction. The first question for any dance-intensive picture is simple: How does the director handle movement? The answer here is: adequately. It's no fault of the performers. Li is played by Chi Cao, a principal dancer with the Birmingham Royal Ballet and, like Li, an alum of the Beijing Dance Academy. To my relatively untrained eye, Cao has kinesthetic and expressive style and power to burn. I wish more of his character's inner power came through in the film. There's a moment when Li's future wife (Amanda Schull) acknowledges she's a virgin, and we realize we don't know if Li is, too, or if he's not, or if we've been properly introduced to him as a flesh-and-blood character.

For some, the dance will be enough. Choreographers Graeme Murphy and Janet Vernon were longtime leaders of the Sydney Dance Company; the film was shot in Australia (covering for some of the Houston scenes), the U.S. and China. The life at the movie's center speaks to what an artist sometimes gives up for art. If only we experienced that sacrifice, that turmoil, more vividly.

 

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"Mao's Last Dancer" Movie Trailer

From Academy Award nominee Bruce Beresford (DRIVING MISS DAISY, TENDER MERCIES) comes MAO'S LAST DANCER, the inspiring true story of Li Cunxin and his extraordinary journey from a poor upbringing in rural China to international stardom as a world-class ballet dancer. Based on the best selling autobiography, MAO'S LAST DANCER weaves a moving tale about the quest for freedom and the courage it takes to live your own life. The film compellingly captures the struggles, sacrifices and triumphs, as well as the intoxicating effects of first love and celebrity amid the pain of exile.

 

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MPAA rating: PG (for a brief violent image, some sensuality, language and incidental smoking).

Running time: 1:57.

Cast: Chi Cao (Li Cunxin); Bruce Greenwood (Ben Stevenson); Kyle MacLachlan (Charles Foster); Amanda Schull (Elizabeth); Joan Chen (Niang).

Credits: Directed by Bruce Beresford; written by Jan Sardi, based on the autobiography by Li Cunxin; produced by Jane Scott. A Samuel Goldwyn Films and ATO Pictures release.