Leys, l'homme qui a déshabillé Mao

Simon Leys (born Pierre Ryckmans) was the first and most lucid denouncer of Maoist crimes, which caused the deaths of 60 to 100 million people. His book "The New Clothes of Chairman Mao," published in 1971, remains a reference on the subject. Paying tribute for the first time to this sinologist of astonishing culture, this "committed spectator" who looked the reality of Maoism squarely in the face, this film also tells the story of the price this man paid for his courage: immense loneliness. This documentary clearly shows the huge gap between what Leys sees in China and the revolutionary tune being played in the Latin Quarter. On the one hand, Simon Leys describes a Machiavellian Mao, cynical and drunk with power, who plunges the country into bloody chaos. On the other hand, in the West, young leftists and brilliant intellectuals blinded by propaganda dream of a perfect red Orient, of a pure revolution.