'Gone with the Bullets' slammed by censorship
- By Zhang Rui
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E-mail China.org.cn, December 8, 2014
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| The venue is ready for the "Gone with the Bullets" premiere in Beijing, Dec. 7, 2014. [China.org.cn] |
The industry rumor mill is reporting that the film has not received a screening permit from the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television and was asked to readjust and re-edit parts of the film, cutting out some scenes that are probably politically sensitive.
"Gone with the Bullets," set in 1920s Shanghai, is based on a true story. Main characters Ma Zouri (Jiang Wen) and Xiang Feitian (Ge You) establish a notorious beauty pageant called the "Flowers Competition." All of the city's elite attend this gala event, but when Wanyan Ying (Shu Qi) unexpectedly wins, it sets off a series of tragic events that changes the characters' destinies.
"'Gone with the Bullets' is very romantic. And the best films are always about a person – not about an era, but about a person who can reflect the characteristics of the time. Ma Zouri, the lead character, is just the kind of typical person I want to present," Jiang Wen said at a small seminar before a screening of one of his early films, "Black Snow" (1990), at the China Film Archive on Sunday evening, without giving any clues or exhibiting any worry about the premiere crisis.
Jiang Wen's last picture, "Let the Bullets Fly," grossed 659 million yuan (US$107.2 million) four years ago to become one of the highest-grossing movies in China's history, winning over audiences and critics. However, the film's story is about injustice and popular uprising, themes that triggered later rounds of unexpected political interpretation on blogs and social platforms.
Because "Bullets" has boasted that it will make more than one billion at the box office, if the film drops out of the New Year and Christmas season or is delayed until next year, there will be a big gap in theaters this season, majorly affecting other films' schedules.
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