US loves Mao
Mao’s Last Dancer is finishing its third month in theaters (it opened Aug. 20) despite never grossing more than $500,000 or playing on more than 140 screens on a given weekend. A slow-burn hit is an anomaly in an era in which most specialty movies either cross over or die quickly.
American critics didn’t appreciate Mao’s Last Dancer, but audiences are loving it.
Los Angeles Times has published a story about the success of the Bruce Beresford film in the United States.
“It features no big-name stars, drew mediocre reviews and traffics in the esoterica of Chinese ballet. And yet Mao’s Last Dancer, the true story of a ballet performer who defected to the United States in 1981, has become one of the season’s biggest art-house hits.”
Although Australian critics gave it generally positive reviews in 2009 (when it became the highest grossing local film of the year), their American counterparts have not been as generous.
The reviews haven’t stopped the film from performing better than many other art house films with stars such as Ben Stiller or Keira Knightley. It didn’t work with the Chinese American , but it’s a hit with older audiences. And although it didn’t succeed in the traditional independent circuit of New York-LA-San Francisco, its working in markets such as San Diego and St. Louis.
Slowly, but surely, some Australian films are having a strong presence in the American market. And that’s always a feel-good story, just like Mao’s Last Dancer!
