It’s just a 10-second scene in the movie The Pursuit of Happyness, the Will Smith flick about a struggling single father and his rise to success.
Smith’s character is showing his son some basketball moves. An average moviegoer would hardly notice it. But China’s censors did. In the background flutters the flag of Taiwan. So Sony Pictures had to go back and cut those images, even though they came amid key dialogue, before its release in China this year.
For U.S. movie distributors in China, there’s no sense in bemoaning the censorship that allows only 20 foreign movies or so a year to be shown in China’s movie theaters, often with severe editing of some scenes. The Chinese hold the keys to the theater. Do as they say.
Here’s what happened to the latest James Bond flick, Casino Royale. Remember that chase scene where actor Daniel Craig goes barging into the embassy of an African country? That was too much for China. After all, embassies are considered foreign territory, and China does not brook the idea that anyone, even James Bond, could violate it. So in the Chinese version, the embassy entrance is digitally altered to make it say “trading company,” not embassy.
Then there is the scene where James Bond is stripped naked, placed on a chair with a hole cut out of the bottom, and tortured. That, too, was cut. China does not admit to torture, evidence to the contrary notwithstanding. So out come the shears. Snip. Snip.
The latest example of censors at work is on the new film by Ang Lee, the acclaimed Taiwanese director who won the best director Oscar for Brokeback Mountain. That movie was never shown in Chinese theaters. The gay-themed movie was deemed too sensitive for Chinese cinema-goers.
According to this week’s Beijing Review magazine, which just slid across my desk, Lee’s latest movie, Lust, Caution, is “too hot for Chinese audiences.”
The movie is described as a sizzling spy thriller set in Shanghai. It earned an NC-17 rating in the United States, where it opens Sept. 28. That the movie is opening at all in China is rather surprising. But its premiere is slated for Oct. 26. Initial media reports said 30 minutes had been cut from the movie to make it palatable for China’s censors.
The Beijing Review cites Lee saying only six minutes will be cut. Unfortunately, Lee adds that it is the most “exciting part.”
Possibly a rare good thing about piracy and bootlegging in China, is that possibly more Chinese will be watching the uncensored versions from 80 cent pirated CDs or streamed for free from video websites rather than spend the money for a ticket to see the cut version in theatres.
The fact that a movie is banned doesn't actually mean ppl can't see it anymore~ only that it'll be more popular for downloading online.
Posted by: rio | September 17, 2007 at 05:25 AM
Very true point. China has few movie theaters for a country its size, while DVD stores appear on almost every corner. I'm sure an uncut version will be readily available. I guess it's the difference between the public morality enforced by the censors and the anything-goes attitude on the streets.
Posted by: Tim J | September 17, 2007 at 06:28 AM
I live in Shenzhen where i watched the Bond movie and the torture scene was intact. The EMBASSY sign had not been been altered. However it had both alterations in Shanghai. The movie is available unaltered on DVD throughout China which is the mode of choice for Chinese people. Brokeback mountain was never popular as the subject matter is distasteful to the Chinese.
Posted by: colynn | September 17, 2007 at 03:10 PM
Does anybody really think that Lust, Caution will be hot? I don't think I will be titillated by Liang Chaowei's aging Lothario and a young Chinese nobody.
Posted by: Xiao Zhu | September 17, 2007 at 08:56 PM
Wow, Tim. Sticking up for the integrity of a celluloid African embassy? I'm impressed. Say what you will about the state censors' delicate sensibilities, but they're nothing if not consistent.
Posted by: Shashank | September 18, 2007 at 11:58 AM
In the U.S. there are warez's and bit torrents and tons of ways to pirate stuff, so why pick on China? Always looking to stir things up, go do something constructive for once.
Posted by: susan | September 18, 2007 at 01:18 PM
We went to the cinema see The Transformers (yes, I have no taste in movies) recently in Beijing. During a discussion of "military threats" one country was repeatedly mentioned but the name was digitally "blurbled" so as to be unclear. At first I thought this was a projector thing, but it happened repeatedly and only when this country was named. I'm not sure which country it was or if this is something US studios do for all international releases or if it was a Beijing thing. Worth noting.
Posted by: Jeremiah | September 18, 2007 at 08:42 PM
... no one is picking on China for the piracy in this thread Susan. Please actually read the comments. most of us are agreeing that its actually doing a good of circumventing the censors.
Posted by: rio | September 20, 2007 at 12:12 AM
I would really like to know there were Taiwanese flags in the scene especially as it was not just a fleeting glimpse. I was thinking could it be that Taiwan represents an against the odds struggle which was consistant with the central theme of the movie?
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