Has Hu Jintao read Balzac?
In China’s roiling political culture, the West needs to figure out where the country’s leader standsBy Tom Plate Pacific Perspectives Columnist Los Angeles — Who is Hu, really? This question about the maximum leader of China, Hu Jintao, comes to mind after viewing the marvelous movie “Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress.” It is easily one of the best movies of the year. In some ways it may also be one of the most important. Here is an extremely fast summary. It’s a story about resourceful young people in a rural village during China’s profoundly awful Cultural Revolution (1968-1978). In order to survive the incredible grim reality of this period in China’s tortured history, they uncover a hidden cache of forbidden Western literature and read each other stories to keep their spirits up. These stories save them from despair and hopelessness. Balzac’s stories in particular inspire the heroine — the “little seamstress,” the gorgeous granddaughter of the local tailor — to eventuall
