Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress

It is 1971. China is in the grip of the Cultural Revolution and two youths find themselves exiled to a remote village for re-education as Maoist peasants. The two boys fall in love with the granddaughter of the local tailor and bring to her attention forbidden foreign books. With her mind opened to the wider wonders of the world, she longs to see what lies beyond her village. Dai Sijie bases the story on his semi-autobiographical novel. Time seems to have softened the harshness of the conditions but the film is never over-sentimental.