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Why Is China Censoring 38 Minutes From the Tom Hanks Film ‘Cloud Atlas’?

Jan. 24, 2013 7:19am Jonathon M. Seidl

China Cuts Cloud Atlas by 38 Minutes Because of Love Scenes

BERLIN, GERMANY – NOVEMBER 05: Tom Hanks attends the ‘Cloud Atlas’ Germany Premiere at CineStar on November 5, 2012 in Berlin, Germany. Credit: Getty Images

BEIJING (AP) — Nearly 40 minutes have been chopped from the Hollywood film “Cloud Atlas” for Chinese audiences, deleting both gay and straight love scenes to satisfy local censors despite a movie-going public that increasingly chafes at censorship.

It premiered Tuesday in Beijing in a red-carpet ceremony with actor Hugo Weaving and China’s own Zhou Xun, but won’t start running in Chinese theaters until next Thursday. The filmmaker’s Chinese partners have slashed that version from the U.S. runtime of 172 minutes to a pared-down 134 to expunge the “passionate” episodes.

“The 172-minute version can be downloaded online … so I am sure some people will prefer that to going to the cinema,” said movie fan Kong Kong, 27, who lives in Shanghai.

Chinese citizens have recently become more outspoken, especially on social media, with complaints about censorship of imported films as well as the home-grown movie industry and news media, much of it imposed over elements that might make China look bad. Awkward cuts by the censors to the most recent James Bond offering “Skyfall,” which opened here Monday, prompted calls for a review of the film censorship system.

“Even these kinds of movies are getting censored, for what?” wrote Wei Xinhong, deputy editor in chief at Shanghai Literature and Art Publishing Bureau, on his Twitter-like Sina Weibo. “What kind of era do we live in today! Still want to control people’s minds?”

He said he was left confused after watching China’s version of the 007 movie, which deleted a bloody scene showing a French hitman killing a Chinese security guard. It also changed the subtitles of Bond’s conversation with a young woman in the Chinese territory of Macau about her past – references to her as a teenage prostitute morphed into a mention of her membership in the mafia.

The “Cloud Atlas” filmmakers say they are confident their movie will retain its “integrity” despite being 38 minutes lighter.

Executive producer Philip Lee said Thursday that the filmmakers knew they would have to “follow the censorship requirements” to have the movie shown in China. He said he hadn’t yet seen the censored version that will come out next week, but that he was confident that the Chinese distributer, Dreams of Dragon Pictures, had made the right changes.

“We have very strong belief in our partner Dreams of the Dragon Pictures,” Lee said. “They have been extremely helpful and collaborative and I am sure they will protect the integrity of the film makers, our creativity and vision.”

A woman surnamed Su in charge of propaganda for Dreams of the Dragon Pictures refused to comment Thursday. Phone calls to the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television rang unanswered.

China allows only 34 foreign films to be shown in its movie theaters each year and 14 of those have to be in 3D or IMAX format. However, pirated DVDs of Hollywood blockbusters are widely available in China, sometimes the result of recording films as they are shown in American or European movie theaters.

“I’m kind of surprised that the directors or the film’s producers would accept such a hefty edit on this,” Florian Fettweis of Beijing-based media consultancy CMM-I said of “Cloud Atlas.” Usually if Hollywood movies encounter heavy censorship, the makers change their mind about showing it in China, he said.

Fettweis said that happened with the 2008 Batman movie “The Dark Knight.”

“Commonly big Hollywood directors are the ones who don’t accept edits to their films,” said Fettweis.

China’s authoritarian government strictly controls print media, television, radio and the Internet. China doesn’t have a classification system, so all movies shown at its cinemas are open to adults and children of any age. This has led to calls for a tiered classification that would give clearer guidelines to filmmakers and allow some films to be less heavily censored.

A Chinese hostess waits near publicity posters for the movie “Cloud Atlas,” during a press conference held before the movie’s China premiere in Beijing, China, Monday, Jan. 21, 2013. Credit: AP

There are two strands to the Chinese censorship – prudishness and political sensitivities, said Steve Tsang, an expert on contemporary Chinese studies at the University of Nottingham in Britain.

The censoring of gay love scenes in “Cloud Atlas” falls into the first category while cuts to “Skyfall” are in the second, broadly defined as anything that portrays China or the Chinese in a negative light. “Shooting a Chinese officer in uniform, they don’t want to encourage that,” said Tsang.

The screen time of a pirate played by Hong Kong actor Chow Yun Fat in the 2007 “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End” was slashed in half by censors for “vilifying and defacing the Chinese,” according to the official Xinhua News Agency at the time.

The changes made to Skyfall were widely reported in state-run media. Xinhua quoted Shi Chuan, a professor from Shanghai University’s film department, as saying: “Movie regulators should respect the producers’ original ideas, rather than chopping scenes arbitrarily.” He renewed calls for the establishment of laws and norms for movie censors to follow.

Cinema-goers who saw the censored version were confused by the cuts, which also deleted a character’s line about having been tortured by Chinese security agents.

“Now I know why I was so confused when I watched it, and not able to connect each scene,” a movie goer, Gao Yuan, who works for a cultural publishing company in Beijing, said on her Sina Weibo. “It’s not worth watching any good movies if they cut them like this. Maybe just don’t import it.”

—

AP researchers Fu Ting in Shanghai and Flora Ji in Beijing and contributed to this report.

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Comments (39)

XPat
Posted on January 25, 2013 at 7:16pm
At least the Chinese have enough class not to subject their people to a Hanks gay love scene.

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battles
Posted on January 25, 2013 at 1:25pm
So what is the question here: China is a communist state.

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Paul R Bear
Posted on January 25, 2013 at 8:11am
I would have cut the whole 172 minutes.

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DisgustedinUSA
Posted on January 24, 2013 at 6:44pm
DUH!! They’re a dictator country, WHY would they be surprised at all of this?? They have NO rights. Thats where we’re heading in America if someone doesn’t stand up and start taking the losers out of their offices. FIRED!!

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- symphonic
  Posted on January 24, 2013 at 8:02pm
  Why? I think censoring some of this immoral garbage would be a good idea. What do you think our country is so corrupt? It is because of the nonsense looseness in the media. Porn is bad. This is where people are abusing the First Amendment. The founding fathers would’ve never put up with this. I am sure that they did not intend the first amendment to protect filth. I am sure that what they had in mind was people being able to speak up against tyranny.
  
  Report this comment
VegasGuy
Posted on January 24, 2013 at 5:24pm
Well, they took guns away from the Chinese public. Why should it be a surprise to anyone that censorship is the norm?

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- symphonic
  Posted on January 24, 2013 at 8:03pm
  Censorship of filth is actually a good thing.
  
  Report this comment
kkrogulski
Posted on January 24, 2013 at 4:39pm
I think I would prefer to watch the chopped version. As a matter of fact, I wish they would chop all the movies to get rid of that crap. All I need is a kiss and a cut away to know what is going on. Been married long enough to know what it looks like.

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- jocko
  Posted on January 24, 2013 at 7:41pm
  AMEN!
  Hollywood is the biggest contributor to our degenerate culture. If it has ‘gay’ love scenes, I won’t even rent it at Redbox for $1.20. I refuse to condone that degenerate behavior in any way.
  
  Report this comment
- symphonic
  Posted on January 24, 2013 at 8:05pm
  Exactly! Hollywood is a main part of the problem that is taking place in America. They are shaping minds for the worse. Tom Hanks is a bad dude who called supporters of traditional marriage, un-American. I will never forget that and how he really feels about moral people.
  
  Report this comment
- Wisdom7
  Posted on January 25, 2013 at 2:12am
  Yep. I started to watch this movie and suddenly it shows a gay love scene with two guys in bed. I just turned it off.
  
  Honestly, these days I would rather watch foreign films. South Korea has some great action films.
  
  Report this comment
Couyon64
Posted on January 24, 2013 at 1:35pm
The guy kinda looks like a chubby hitler in this pic.

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Beachmastermax
Posted on January 24, 2013 at 1:18pm
Off the top of my head….Since china has been moving away from communism, they probably are taking exception to messages from new, gullible and simple American commies.

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The_Cabrito_Goat
Posted on January 24, 2013 at 12:16pm
Who has 38 minutes of sex in a movie that’s 172 minutes long? The director might be worried about keeping the interest of his audience.

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- symphonic
  Posted on January 24, 2013 at 8:07pm
  Tom Hanks does. The same guy promoting gay marriage.
  
  Report this comment
TheWhiteFalcon
Posted on January 24, 2013 at 11:25am
Tom Hanks is relevant?

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zoro51
Posted on January 24, 2013 at 10:13am
paranoid ******.. so afriad of a fly they go lengths to supress any thought.. look ping pong people ahve SEX how do yu think your nation got so huge??? gay sex straight sex what ever n u censor it as a STUPID NATION… like how my mom kept me out of sex ed classes n didnt tell me why.. made me feel ashamed.. n looked at.. well them days r over.. wake up ping pong your people HAVE SEX men women both .. DEAL WITH THAT… you are so afraid of a fly its SO COMICAL

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- symphonic
  Posted on January 24, 2013 at 8:08pm
  Yeah and you obviously turned out alright.
  
  Report this comment
heidihoneighbor
Posted on January 24, 2013 at 9:38am
TTom hanks is a liberal liberal hack that has a thing for the dictator.

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GuruMeditation
Posted on January 24, 2013 at 9:25am
Hanks is a dolt.

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Gonzo
Posted on January 24, 2013 at 9:08am
Yet Hollywood libs still think of communism as some kind of utopian ideal.

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- marybethelizabeth
  Posted on January 24, 2013 at 9:32am
  I would rather watch movies without sex scenes.
  And profanity.
  And Mr. Beck stop working as blue as the FCC regulations allow.
  
  Report this comment
- Gonzo
  Posted on January 24, 2013 at 12:08pm
  And I would rather not have to read posts by morons like you. You can’t always get what you want.
  
  Report this comment
- symphonic
  Posted on January 24, 2013 at 8:10pm
  No gonzo. She’s got a point. Every time I come to this website, the blades, I am just flooded with graphic and provocative soft porn. It’s obnoxious. Blue as FCC allows is right.
  
  Report this comment
BODYBAG
Posted on January 24, 2013 at 8:58am
“We have very strong belief in our partner Dreams of the Dragon Pictures,” Lee said. “They have been extremely helpful and collaborative and I am sure they will protect the integrity of the film makers, our creativity and vision.”

Brown nose much?

你好瓷性交您

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trinity76
Posted on January 24, 2013 at 8:55am
I happened to like Cloud Atlas a log…it’s not a typical film at all. If you approach it expecting linear simple plot entertainment, you will likely hate it. Just want to point out, there weren’t really any gay “love scenes.” Maybe a kiss, can’t remember for sure. And getting out of bed the next day. And mourning over a dead loved one. Also, that plot-line was set in a time where it was definitely considered perverted to be in that kind of relationship. It’s a tragic plot-line and while maybe eliciting sympathy for the characters, I don’t think it can otherwise be seen as promoting those kind of relationships.

Also, that’s only one story out of the six or more incorporated in the movie. I’d be more surprised if China allows the second-to-the-last story without heavy edits, the one set in future New Seoul about artificially created humans standing up for their rights and freedom. That’s my favorite one of the film (it’s the most like The Matrix).

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- mckim
  Posted on January 25, 2013 at 5:19pm
  China cut out gay sex and Yellowface sex act. The latter is posing insulted to Chinese authority.
  They see more as sexual violation than normal sex act. Neo Seoul plot may not pose a sexual violating for Western viewers cuz they like to enjoy watching Asian female sexuality being violated which is a typical Hollywood format. For Chinese culture, it’s serious moral violation so they cut it out. I applaud Chinese authority decision.
  
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NEWSTALKER
Posted on January 24, 2013 at 8:55am
I applaud China…Too bad America has stopped censoring TV/Movies, now look at the USA, condoms being handed out to very young children and I could go on and on….China should receive applause for attempting do this one thing that is moral and correct, and that is to censor immorality from anywhere and especially the tainted Hollywood that is doing all that it can to condone and perhaps even force its sexual immorality on all people…I dont need to see anyone else’s love scene, for it is supposed to be a sacred act between those two individuals, not 3 or even millions…I stopped watching TV and the movies long ago…

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THX-1138
Posted on January 24, 2013 at 8:31am
“What kind of era do we live in today! Still want to control people’s minds?”

Dude? Where the hell have you been the last 60 years? YOU have been helping to do exactly that.

Oh, the irony!

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- Armyduderetired
  Posted on January 31, 2013 at 3:15pm
  Yeah it’s a bitch when you wake up and find that the whole world you were lead to trust and believe in is a lie. Thank you Jesus for opening my eyes that I may see the truth. It’s going to be interesting to see what the rest of this year brings in the form of government control of the people. I say we are pretty much at the breaking point. Sorry I cannot change my past for you “Sic Semper Tyrannis” dude. I also leave the W 04 painted on my fence as a constant reminder to myself as to just how wrong I can be. Cheer up my friend; I’m awake now. Lets get ready to roll!
  
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Armyduderetired
Posted on January 24, 2013 at 8:09am
As China moves to censor it’s culture and politics, progressives in the US use the same tool to influence and manipulate the public to accept reality as they see it. They forget about free will. People will always choose it. No matter how long it its repressed, good wins in the end. Thank you Jesus!

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- henryKnox
  Posted on January 24, 2013 at 9:00am
  This is why the Progressives will lose in the end. Free will eventually breaks all barriers that try to hold back humanity. We have to keep fighting for freedom, but at least we know we are on the right side.
  
  Report this comment
woodyee
Posted on January 24, 2013 at 8:03am
Stoop-id arses are concerned over censorship in China, but remain happily mum over blatant media bias over here; in fact, they love it.

Ef them. I hope Hanks disappears into the Great Wall or vanishes in the Forbidden City, or better yet, gets busted over making passes at little boys….

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jungle J
Posted on January 24, 2013 at 8:03am
What sane person wants to see homosexuals pretend that what they do is normal? Only the sane understand.

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Tri-ox
Posted on January 24, 2013 at 7:40am
Tom Hanks is still making movies? Who knew?

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DougHuffman
Posted on January 24, 2013 at 7:35am
Who cares? 谁在乎呢？誰在乎呢？

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- paultard
  Posted on January 24, 2013 at 7:39am
  Agreed.. Who TF cares about China.. We have our own problems and I could care less about Chinese censorship and a Hollywood movie. Big Friggin’ deal.
  
  Report this comment
- DougHuffman
  Posted on January 24, 2013 at 7:49am
  My apologies to the censors.
  
  The geeked characters are supposed to be rendered in traditional and simplified Chinese.
  
  Report this comment
- ginger100
  Posted on January 24, 2013 at 8:04am
  That movie was terrible, 中国可能已送检整个影片，它是可怕。.
  
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