‘Django Unchained’ Pulled From Chinese Movie Theaters, Reactions

From Sina Weibo:

#Django Unchained#

Django Unchained Halted on Opening Day, Possibly Because of Nude Scene

April 11, various major movie theaters received notice from China Film Group Corporation that the Quentin Tarantino movie Django Unchained originally planned to debut/open today has for technical problems been temporarily halted nationwide, with tickets already sold by movie theaters to be refunded. According to reports, the length of this film’s mainland version is 165 minutes, the same length as the North American version.

Comments from Sina Weibo:

桃桃林林小淘淘:

I was just on my way out when I received news that the Django Unchained screenings here were also canceled, with the movie theater already having my ticket returned. Fuck! In the end, Pyongyang is still an inalienable part of China’s sovereign territory. With regards to the technical problem, Old Wang downstairs says it’s because there’s a genital scene in it that wasn’t cut. (About the genitals, read the screening critique: http://t.cn/zT5y5dP) Because some people don’t have man parts, they can’t stand other people having them, so I bet it has to be cut before it can be released.

里程微博:

Django Unchained is neither a western, nor an gunfight film, and the emancipation of the black slave is also just a catalyst. It’s core [substance] is a much higher level of mo lei tau than that of Stephen Chow’s, and all the lines are metaphysical. The director in our country who has been most influence by Quentin is probably Jiang Wen. This movie is affirmative, an absolute positive energy, and ought not be banned for any reason. Yu Hua [a Chinese contemporary writer] said is best: If regulation of food safety were as strict as regulation of movies and television, many things in China would be much better.

胡锡进:

Django Unchained suddenly being halted, the damage this act itself brings to our country’s politics is profoundly greater than the possible damage a “harmful scene” that wasn’t completely cut could bring. Nowadays within the system, there is a lack of people who dare to demand explanations from and thus avoid wrong decisions by higher authorities. Or maybe the institution itself doesn’t actually encourage this kind of thing. Some odd decisions are frequently made in various local regions and departments, and in the end, it’s always the government’s credibility that pays the bill.

影评老大爷暗夜骑士:

As soon as I got out of bed I heard the news that Django Unchained was cancelled. The Blue-ray came out long ago, and anyone who is a movie fan has already seen it, so no hurry. We are still a “pretend to be conservative” country. Corrupt officials and the rich can have group promiscuity and orgies without restrictions, but they forbid the ordinary common people to see a JB. Not categorizing movies into different ratings is a dereliction of duty of the relevant departments. Movie fans in China are the most pitiful, the most helpless movie fans of the whole world, where even watching an out-of-date movie can be halted/cancelled. Good thing we have pirated versions!

梅哲BH:

Restore the screening of Django Unchained. My friend is currently demonstrating in front of SARFT [State Administration of Radio Film and Television]. I hope friends who have the same feelings will support and repost/forward this. Thanks. #Movie Censorship #Movie Ratings #Django.

罗昌平:

Django is going to become Jango, and this is Chinese characteristics. The movie rating system is nowhere to be seen, and those who have the scissors in their hands have lost their dicks, so they can’t stand other people having then, nor can they stand other people seeing them. Under the recommendation of the new State Administration of Nude Ass and Anus, both “Django Unchained” and “Django Castrated” will be popular.

侯卖卖:

There’s nothing wrong with the movie Django Unchained being taken back to be castrated [edited/cut/censored]. If you brought your 7-year-old daughter to the movie theater and a big JB appeared on screen, how would you feel as a parent… Without a ratings system, without a mature cinematic system, what fucking use is it to just have an antagonistic attitude…?

电影发狂:

According to an inside source, the true reason for Django Unchained being cancelled is because the death of the character that Leonardo DiCaprio plays once again made the boss of a certain family unhappy. This old asshole had in the past boldly agreed to allowing a certain Hollywood blockbuster to enter China for the first time in human history with a car sex scene completely uncut/uncensored. The authenticity of this information is pending further confirmation.

连鹏:

About the cancelling of Django Unchained, the notification from the movie theater says it’s because of technical problems, while industry insiders revealed it’s because a scene where the main character’s genitals are exposed was not cut during the government censorship screening. I’m reminded of the nude scene in last year’s Titanic 3D being cut, as well as CCTV censoring the statue of David-Apollo. Some people’s thinking sure are pure, can we not look at art with dirty minds? If you really think nudity affects the physical and psychological health of youths, then introduce a rating system, rather than blindly auditing and arbitrarily editing/censoring films.

陆弃:

A movie being taken out of theaters is originally a small insignificant matter, yet [some people] insist on making a big deal about it getting the entire nation talking, just so people can have more topics for idle chit chat. For Django Unchained to have been temporarily halted, there must be a reason. But some microblogs to use the corruption and depravity of the rich to mock the common people being unable to see even a pornographic scene is simply shameless. We can’t allow drug-use and homosexuality to be overtly shown on the movie screen just because there are people who use drugs and people who engage in homosexuality.

王福重:

Just because of some small JB stuff, Django Unchained was canceled? Why didn’t SARFT spot it during the auditing process? Fell asleep? Or did they watch it with a pornographic video and get the two mixed up?

张宏雷律师:

“Back from Cinema to Hard Drive”: The Django incident is a big game of Go that has ruined legal copies [vs. pirated copies] and movie theaters. Movie fans will return to the clandestine [watching movies through unofficial channels], and “reading a banned book in a snowy night” has been upgraded to “watching a banned movie with the lights off”. When castration becomes as kind of system [state of affairs], it means eunuchs have become the elite and the mainstream of society. Ever since I started going to the movie theater only for 3D and IMAX, what I’m always wondering is just what has been cut/censored? Try to audit/censor from a eunuch’s point of view and you’ll realize that a good movie can only have its credits and background music remain.

玛雅探索者:

Django Unchained, due to SARFT’s ban, has become “Django Unchained for One Minute” [the first screening of the movie proceeded for one minute before viewers were interrupted and asked to leave the movie theater], highlighting the ignorance and the rudeness of China’s “cultural regulators”. The violence in the movie is far less bloody than the reality that happens in China, and the “little bird” in the movie is also far more tiny and polite than the People’s Daily building. [So] I don’t understand just why the movie was halted/cancelled.

周难的微博:

Because it was banned, I downloaded and watched Django Unchained beforehand. Quentin Tarantino’s movies are really satisfying to watch. The background is set before the American Civil War, tells a story about former slave Django who after being rescued embarks on a path of resistance/rebellion. What is worth mentioning is that the movie puts an emphasis on depicting some “brainless” slaves who have essentially forgotten that they are enslaved and resolutely stand on the side of the slave owner defending his interests. Think about it, on this point alone, there’s nothing strange about this movie being cancelled/banned.

莱昂纳多内地影迷会:

Although Django has been banned from being shown in theaters nationwide, according the reaction of movie fans, a certain movie theater of a certain city in China still showed this movie as scheduled on the night of the 11th. But of course, those who want to know where [the movie theater is] can stop searching, as both the movie theater and the movie fans are a secret~~ There’s only one screenshot. Just because you want to stop/ban it doesn’t mean you can.