From the 1960s to 1970s, during Dai's teenage days, "all the books were banned, even science books. ... So at that time almost everybody stole books and hid them," he said.
"I wanted to show how much impact culture could have on an isolated mountain village, and especially for [the seamstress]. It was a revelation of freedom, of self-consciousness. The little seamstress had seen more in Balzac ... learned that men could flirt with women, that it is natural. ... This is what she had never learned during her days of being indoctrinated ... that life could be filled with many nice things," he said.
For Dai, this lack of freedom and individualism is the essence of his generation.
The film was shot with beautiful Sichuan as its background, excellent actors and sophisticated, evenhanded storytelling. The French-financed Balzac, is a comeback work for Dai, who has spent 15 years making French-language films. His Chinese Sorrow won acclaim at the Locrano and Cannes Film Festivals.
As to how a young woman could suddenly be changed through foreign literature -- the part of the story most criticized by Chinese authorities and the main reason the story was not released in China -- Dai has an apolitical answer.
"The influence of literature is universal. [The story] was not only an ode to the literature we had read, but also simply to show that in a difficult situation, we, at that young age, had a yearning to learn, to see new things and nice things," Dai said.
The Chinese-language version of Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress will be published in Taiwan by Crown Publishing. And the film will be release in Taiwan soon.
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