Set during the cultural revolution in China we follow two urbane young men after they are dismissed to a remote, but beautiful, mountainous corner of the country to re-learn the basic tenets of Chairman Mao's communist ideology. At first depressed by their predicament, the two lads soon perk up when they come across a hidden selection of western literature, a find they eagerly share with the curious and beguiling local seamstress. They also survive by telling stories, making music and pulling teeth! Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress is taken from Dai Sijie's own autobiography and it's a beautiful, at times ethereal, tale, rich in humanity. Awesomely good.