Mao's Last Dancer

This is a beautiful, romantic film that you'll particularly enjoy if you appreciate ballet - the dance scenes are spectacular. Based on the autobiography of Li Cunxin, who grew up in a peasant family in China, was selected at age 11 to train as a ballet dancer in Beijing, and defected to the US in 1981 after spending the summer as a student with the Houston Ballet Company. He went on to become one of their principal dancers and later joined a ballet company in Australia. The film moves between the stories of his early life in China and his time in the US, including the very tense situation of his defection. The role of Li Cunxin is played by Chi Cao, a wonderful dancer who trained in both Beijing and the Royal Ballet School in England; he's currently principal dancer with the Birmingham Royal Ballet. Bruce Greenwood is excellent in the role of Ben Stevenson, who was artistic director in Houston and responsible for Li Cunxin being in the US in the first place. The film is directed by Australian Bruce Berseford, well known for a number of excellent films including Tender Mercies and Driving Miss Daisy.