China Cuts Scenes from “Babel”
Friday, March 16, 2007
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Rinko Kikuchi as a schoolgirl in "Babel." |
Man meets girl... |
This nude scene was cut. |
Chinese censors cut five minutes of footage from the film “Babel,” according to an entertainment wire service.
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Censors deemed the banned footage too sexually explicit for Chinese audiences, the World Entertainment News Network (WENN) reported Friday (March 16, 2007). The cut footage showed a Japanese girl undressing in an attempt to seduce an older man. The girl was played by Rinko Kikuchi.
“Babel” was released in Chinese theaters Monday (March 12, 2007) and is in video release in the United States. The communist Chinese government allows 20 foreign films to be shown in China each year, but censors working for the China Film Association often edit the films, cutting sex, violence and politics.
“Babel” stars Bradd Pitt and Cate Blanchett. The story involves people in peril because of a lack of common languages.
Foreign films and directors aren't the only ones censored by Chinese authorities.
"The government still wants to use the arts as a propaganda tool, to present the best image of the country to the outside world. They don't want to show a real society. They don't want people to see dirty streets, or to know there is prostitution in Beijing. It's ridiculous," said Li Yu, “Lost in Beijing” director.
Lou Ye, another Chinese director, is banned in China from making films.
"I think participating in film festivals is an artist's basic right, like taking part in an art exhibition or a book exhibition," Ye said, after a European premier of his movie “Summer Palace” led to his ban in China.
