Mao's last dancer netflix

By Peter Brunette. More Toronto reviews.

Mao's last dancer film review

Like most films in this underdog genre, the emotional manipulation of the audience is constant and obvious. This is the kind of film that critics may look down on but go on to win audience awards at festivals and, presumably, make money at the box office. He ends up with the Houston Ballet Company as part of a cultural exchange program, and a few mildly humorous scenes of culture shock follow.

A dramatic scene in the middle of the movie shows Chinese officials literally trying to kidnap him to send him home, but legal maneuvering and his quick marriage to an American dancer keep him in the U. When the media is set loose on the case, the Chinese government finally backs down and lets him stay.

Best film dancers

However, to achieve his dream, he has had to give up the chance of ever seeing his family again, a thought that torments him no end. Though ambition trumps family at this point in his life, it will be pretty clear for most viewers what the final scene of the film, which takes places some years later, is going to be. Like most films in this genre, pretty much everything is seen in black and white terms.

It is his own mixed emotions and sometimes calculating self-interest that provides whatever depth the story contains. The real center of the film, though, is the dancing itself, of which we happily get a lot. Sign up for THR news straight to your inbox every day. September 24, pm. Related Stories.