Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie, the film and the novel both have a different ending. The novel ends with the seamstress leaving the village for the city, while the film ends with Ma becoming a violinist in France and Luo becoming a dentist in Shanghai. The whereabouts of the seamstress are unknown in both the novel and the film. The film's ending does not alter the readers' view of the seamstress because the boys do make it out of the village, thus the idea of the seamstress, "abandoning," them can be debunked. The seamstress is most probably successful in the future, just like Ma and Luo. In the end, the film shows the flooding of the town, which creates a greater significance for the townspeople, especially Ma, Luo, and the seamstress. Although Dai Sijie might have created more of a satisfying ending for the film, the novel is more detailed and provides better insight of the characters. The, "satisfying ending of the film," is not necessary because throughout the novel the reader is only concerned whether Ma and Luo will make it out of the village. .
Dai Sijie possibly created a different ending for the film in order to appeal to a different audience. The film ends with Ma becoming a professional violinist and Luo becoming a dentist in Shanghai. Of course it does not matter what they become, the concern throughout the novel is whether they will be able to make it out of the village. The novel lets the reader know the boys have made it out of the village, but does not inform the reader what occurs later. The detail of what happens to them is insignificant to the story as a whole, because the concern throughout the novel is their reeducation and if they will ever be able to leave the village. The concern is not what they will do in the future if they make it out of the village. Dai Sijie might have created the films ending with Ma and Luo becoming what they are good at, (Ma playing the violin, Luo becoming a dentist like his father) to provide some sense of satisfaction for some viewers, but that does not change the story of their reeducation, all it does is provide an alternative ending.
