China is too cautious about the lust in Ang Lee's (
The case highlights public dissent about China's censorship system, which doesn't classify films by age-appropriateness. All movies that clear censors are open to everyone.
Dong Yanbin (
The graduate law student at the China University of Political Science and Law is also suing the movie theater where he saw the film, alleging that it denied him his right to information and wants 500 yuan (US$67) for mental anguish and apologies from the theater and SARFT, the Beijing Times said.
"The publicly released version of Lust, Caution is structurally flawed. It fails to portray the psychology of the female lead," Dong was quoted as saying.
Asked about the newspaper report, a man who answered the phone at the publicity office of Beijing's Xicheng courthouse said Dong had filed such a lawsuit but that the court hasn't decided whether to accept the case.
"He has filed the lawsuit, but the court had not created a case yet," the man said, declining to give his name. He said he didn't know the details of the case.
Dong couldn't immediately be reached for comment. Calls to the graduate student office at his university, to a SARFT spokesman and the movie theater, UME Huaxing International Cineplex, went unanswered.
Lust, Caution is about the sexually charged relationship between an undercover student activist and the Japanese-allied intelligence chief in World War II Shanghai. Its explicit nature -- featuring abusive sex and a variety of lovemaking positions -- have earned it adult-only ratings in the US and Asia.
Although the censored version was shown in China, local audiences appeared to be aware of the cuts from media reports.
Despite the cuts, Lust, Caution has quickly become a big hit in China, earning more than 90 million yuan (US$12 million) since opening two weeks ago and generating a huge number of Internet commentaries.
Lee, however, hasn't made a big fuss about the cuts in China.
"It doesn't affect the story or character development because they only involve a few minutes ... The movie will feel much less intense. That's all," he told reporters while promoting the film in Hong Kong recently.
GET TO SAFETY: Authorities were scrambling to evacuate nearly 700 people in Hualien County to prepare for overflow from a natural dam formed by a previous typhoon Typhoon Podul yesterday intensified and accelerated as it neared Taiwan, with the impact expected to be felt overnight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, while the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration announced that schools and government offices in most areas of southern and eastern Taiwan would be closed today. The affected regions are Tainan, Kaohsiung and Chiayi City, and Yunlin, Chiayi, Pingtung, Hualien and Taitung counties, as well as the outlying Penghu County. As of 10pm last night, the storm was about 370km east-southeast of Taitung County, moving west-northwest at 27kph, CWA data showed. With a radius of 120km, Podul is carrying maximum sustained
President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday criticized the nuclear energy referendum scheduled for Saturday next week, saying that holding the plebiscite before the government can conduct safety evaluations is a denial of the public’s right to make informed decisions. Lai, who is also the chairman of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), made the comments at the party’s Central Standing Committee meeting at its headquarters in Taipei. ‘NO’ “I will go to the ballot box on Saturday next week to cast a ‘no’ vote, as we all should do,” he said as he called on the public to reject the proposition to reactivate the decommissioned
US President Donald Trump on Friday said that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) told him China would not invade Taiwan while Trump is in office. Trump made the remarks in an interview with Fox News, ahead of talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. “I will tell you, you know, you have a very similar thing with President Xi of China and Taiwan, but I don’t believe there’s any way it’s going to happen as long as I’m here. We’ll see,” Trump said during an interview on Fox News’ Special Report. “He told me: ‘I will never do
EXCEPTIONS: Some people could be allowed to reclaim citizenship for humanitarian reasons or because of their contributions to the nation, the interior ministry said Taiwan would soon unveil new rules banning Taiwanese residents of China from reclaiming their citizenship if they participated in Beijing’s propaganda activities, the Ministry of the Interior said on Monday. The measures were drafted following President William Lai’s (賴清德) March 13 directive that the government counter China’s espionage and influence campaigns aimed at undermining Taiwan’s sovereignty, the ministry said in a preview of the rules. The changes would affect Taiwanese who lost their citizenship after becoming permanent residents of China or obtaining passports issued by China, it said. Under the measures, former Taiwanese nationals living in China who had made statements denying the
RSS