Traditionally, every Chinese has at least three weeks vacation per year. One on the occasion of the National Day of 1er October and two during the Lunar New Year. Being able to release a film on one of these dates means, for a filmmaker, having the virtual certainty of attracting tens of millions of spectators. But in Xi Jinping’s China, censorship has the last word, especially on the eve of the Communist Party Congress. The films broadcast – or not – on Chinese screens this week provide the (sad) demonstration of this.
Four feature films, released on September 30, should attract crowds this year. The first, Home Coming, is an action film that honors two Chinese diplomats who manage, at the risk of their lives, to evacuate 125 compatriots detained by evil rebels in an Arab country in the grip of a civil war.
The second, Ordinary Hero, is happening in Xinjiang. He tells how a Uighur child suffering from a serious illness is saved thanks to the mobilization of police officers, doctors, passengers and the crew of a plane who do indeed seem to be of Chinese ethnicity. ” A true story “, claims the trailer. A very beautiful story intended, obviously, to make people forget the Western and UN criticisms about the “crimes against humanity” suffered by the Uighurs in this Chinese province.
Modified ending
The third movie SteelWill, narrates, in epic form, the creation of a steelworks in northeast China in the 1950s and, of course, its brilliant development. “The film also highlights the role of steel production in New China’s infrastructure and for Chinese forces in the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea (1950-1953) »precise, enthusiastic, the China Daily, daily newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party.
Xi Jinping rein ins the show business industry, demanding that stars have an irreproachable private life
A fourth film, Born to Fly, should have eclipsed its three rivals. Finally, China held its Top Gun. Tom Cruise had better watch out! By September 26, 30 million Chinese had pre-purchased a ticket. Unfortunately, due to a ” Technical problem “ discovered on September 26, Born to Fly can’t take off. What problem ? Chinese Internet users are lost in guesswork. The most probable is that the censors remembered that one of the two pilot actors of the film, Hu Jun, had taken advantage of his physique of young first to sell in 2020 financial products which turned out to be fraudulent. As Xi Jinping rein ins the show business industry, demanding that stars have an impeccable private life, Born to Fly is no doubt a victim of the campaign waged by ruined Chinese against Hu Jun.
You have 36.45% of this article left to read. The following is for subscribers only.