Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress Scene Analysis

Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress Scene Analysis

PROMPT: Analyze from Balzac and the Little Seamstress the scene you found most powerful related to education or re-education (3 pages minimum, double-spaced)

Due: 10/8

For this assignment, you will write an analysis of a scene from the film Balzac and The Little Chinese Seamstress. The entire film is on YouTube so you have an opportunity to review the film, and once you have picked your scene, watch it several times. Think about watching your scene at least once with the sound off, to become more aware of what’s happening visually.

Your paper will need to include these elements, probably though not necessarily in this order:

· A brief synopsis or summary of the scene (assume your audience includes people who have not seen the film)

· A brief description of the characters, the setting, and where we are in the plot.

· A more in depth analysis of the scene, to give your reader a very close look at what happens, who says and does what, how it looks and sounds, what most important details stick with you and have the greatest impact

· Finally, and specifically, what the scene contributes to the film message on education

When talking about particular characters, it is standard to use their character name and include the actor’s name in parentheses. You would only need the actor’s name the first time you mention the character. Here’s an example: “Set in China during the Cultural Revolution of the 1970s, the story follows Luo (Chen Kun) and Ma (Liu Ye), two young men from the city who are sent to a mountain village for a re-education in Maoist principles.”

Review criteria:

· Writer sets up the review by identifying the film title, the year it was made, and the director.

· Writer summarizes or offers a concise and accurate synopsis of the scene for potential viewers.

· Writer articulates the scene’s purpose, theme or argument

· Writer provides sufficient detail in his or her analysis, and gives good reasons for his or her claims on the scene.

· Writer controls language at the sentence lever, edits for punctuation, sentence structure, etc.

The Characters:

Yun Zhou plays The Little Seamstress

Yel Liu plays Ma

Kun Chen plays Luo

Shuangbao Wang plays the head of the village

Zhijun Cong plays the Old Tailor

Hongwei Wang plays Four Eyes

The film, released in 2002, was written and directed by Dai Sijie, based on a novel by Dai Sijie.