Chinese cinemas pull Tarantino's 'Django' on first day

I'm glad I don't live in China.

" Nonetheless, thanks to rampant piracy in China, fans have already been able to watch the original version of “Django Unchained” on DVD or online—even before the movie hit theaters."

Suppressing freedom always fails.

Amazing that this Film was a SUPER HIT in Japan.

Quentin Tarantino is liked as much as Lady GaGa in Japan (she's also banned in China btw).

Oh well, that's the Communist Mentality for ya: "Do as I say, Not as I do..."

My God! China needs to quit. Yes, it's a movie based on Django who was a slave that rose up avenge his oppressors and win his captured lovers freedom. A fictional story based on actual historical facts about the injustice and brutality of slavery which was historically accurate. If Hollywood has to take China's feelings into consideration and approval every time, the rest of the world won't be able to enjoy ANY movies at all. What subject is NOT off limits for the Chinese?

It doesn't matter, the bootleg DVD has probably already been on the streets of China since the day it was first released in the U.S. last year.

Love the way business in china is concluded with booze and prostitutes, yet they feel the need to censor. Lame doesnt even cut it. Hypocracy with a smile.

It is too much critical analysis for communist China under the banner of "just a matter of internal policy"? What to expect of this world great copy machines that introduced the gun powder and noodle to the world. By the way, Hollywood is closing eyes on china as they go after the money. Freedom, human right, freedom of speech....nah, we worship the money (yuan).

China: A nation of inflight entertainment.

Django was the best movie I've seen in a long time.... I'm sure the Chinese viewers will enjoy it as much as I did, if they are given a chance to see it. Which I'm sure they will from DVD's and all sorts of media. The Chinese are a bunch of movie lovers, the more you stop them from watching it, the more they want to watch it.

"What subject is NOT off limits for the Chinese?"

The glorious Communist Chinese leadership?

Or why the US doesn't screen Chinese movies in their theatres.

Who says that "the US" doesn't screen Chinese movies? Movies that aren't in English have a hard time becoming blockbusters -- blame English speakers' reluctance to read subtitles for that -- but you can still see them in smaller and indie theaters. Japanese releases are no different, and Hong Kong movies in particular have had a dedicated niche following for decades.

In today's globalized world why would any of you think ANY government would openly allow entertainment from anywhere in the world to freely be on display in their country without some form of screening or censorship?

You presuppose that no movie should be shown unless the government specifically permits it. This kind of thinking is part of the problem.

while street peddlers in China are selling pirated Django DVDs

In the recent remake of "Red Dawn" the invading military force was supposed to be CHINESE but the Chinese government demanded that it be changed to NORTH KOREA and it was. In "World War Z" the virus outbreak was supposed to start in CHINA but the Chinese government told the writers to change it to another place and it was.

I would think that this is more the reason for it. Dont want the masses over there getting any ideas.

The main character “was continually repressed and enslaved by the slaveowner, then suddenly got his hands on a gun and rebelled in the name of love and freedom”,

Man, I feel for Chinese movie-goers; one of the things I can't stand more than anything else is any edits to a movie and voice dubs.

A masterpiece film could be turned into a piece of crap with some of the editing that goes on out there.

You would have thought that the censors would view the film first before screening it........

Bombaykitty,

"First of all, I would assume that censors would screen the movie BEFORE it even hit cinemas"

First of all, I'd just like to say, wow! You're actually sitting here justifying censorship in a forum where a discussion just like the one above criticizing Chinese censorship would be banned outright in that very same country. Oh, the delicious irony.

Second, one minute into the film at one location and the film is stopped based on a message distributed to theaters across China stating: "'Django Unchained', because of technical reasons, has been stopped from being shown nationwide for the time being,"

. . . . Technical reasons . . . .

. . . . Occurring simultaneously across the entire nation of China . . . .

. . . . For one film . . . .

Just let that stew in your head for a bit. Technical difficulties striking at precisely the same moment in theaters all across China for just this one film.

China has plenty of its own movies to survive without Hollywood imports, thank you.

Fun Fact: In 2011, China had more than 6,2000 screens, a number that's expected to double by 2015 (Los Angeles Times, "China is on a cinema-building binge") This industry generated US$1.5 billion in ticket sales in 2010. What accounted for 40% of that revenue? Hollywood films. The top grossing film in Chinese cinema history? 'Avatar,' bringing in some $200 million in its first year of release.

"Also, I am so sure that all our "free" nations will show all movies from every country in the world with absolutely no censorship at all whatsoever because, well, we're so free.

Well, umm, actually, yes. It doesn't take much of a leap of logic to understand that if films like Django, chock-full of contentious issues such as sex, violence, and incitement to rebellion, are able to be seen unfettered in America, the UK, Canada, Australia, Japan, South Korea, (insert nation with democratically elected government here), then it's not to hard to imagine that there are very, very few things worrisome enough to provoke democratically elected governments to suddently step into the free markets they provide structure for in order to censor movie content.

Trust me on this -- censorship of films in democratic nations is so far down on the list of priorities for these governments that you'd have go out of your way to trigger interest by making a film that, let's say, teaches bomb making for the purpose of committing terrorist acts. Now THAT would raise eyebrows.

But no. That you're seriously trying compare censorship in China with your imagined 'Matrix'-esque vision of the Free World being hoodwinked at every turn through cinema should be . . . well, embarassing.

It's interesting no one questions why Japan doesn't put 100% of all English movies in their cinemas either.

You must be new to JT. This very issue pops up about once every couple of years. 100% of all English movies made in the wold don't get shown in Japanese theaters because Japan has not only its own film industry, but also a desire to promote that industry by limiting the number of foreign films allowed to be imported to Japanese theaters. No, this isn't censorship. Japan cares very little about the content of most Western films. It's market protectionism, an entirely different beast.

...perhaps it has to do with that and not any farce of a political message the movie halfheartedly attempts? But of course, no one believes that of the big, bad commies in China. No way their intentions can be a good one.

We're still talking about . . . censorship, right? Are you actually forwarding the argument that there's such a thing as "good" state censorship? If so, this is going to be an interesting discussion. First up, who decides what's good for the general populace and what's not? You? Me?

In particular, who decides in China, where the general populace has no voice whatsoever in the selection of the government officials who make that decision?

Using entertainment as a form of propaganda is a habit of all governments throughout time.

Sure. Are you then saying 'Django Unchained' is state-sponsored propaganda? If so, what’s the message?

In today's globalized world why would any of you think ANY government would openly allow entertainment from anywhere in the world to freely be on display in their country without some form of screening or censorship?

Happens all the time. That’s the fascinating power of capitalism, for better or worse: if there's a market for it, then there's someone willing to sell it.

How long will the Chinese people put up with this??

Funny though, the Chinese don't seem to realize that it is THEY who are enslaved to the communist party. THEIR puppet masters don't want THEM getting any ideas about being able to view what they want, when they want, without the big boys telling them it is okay. Ha ha. Yup, it is because of the nudity. Keep thinking that lemmings!

Too bad some of these movies are even made-Violence begets violence but to be on topic China wants to (& at this point)have it's cake & eat it,too! I'm sure bootlegs are being sold all over the continent.

Just seen the movie in the plane and I cannot remember any significant nudity scene. But definitely tons of ketchup has been used. I love the original spaghetti westerns because they were showing the true hard life in those time (vs. the well shaved and cleanly dressed John Wayne). But the blood explosion in Django Unchained is just ridiculous and out of scope!

Or show me real winchester impact effect on a human body. But I really doubt you get all the jam. Otherwise, thumb up to show the reality of this human stupidity.

They didn't screen it before releasing it?

I think there is more than meets the eye going on here.

@Probie that was my first thought too, i assume that the censors watch the movies before they are screened

Might be partly due to the fact that the Chinese castrated men in dynastic times.

Hopefully it gets cleared and released soon. East Asian governments sure do have a thing for censorship, for various reasons. Japan censors all adult movies to "protect public morals and decency" - very patronizing for adults here. In a sense, chinese and japanese audiences are treated as children. At least japanese can watch violence though which I guess is cool.

Mr Tarantino is a disgusting example of American culture gone bad. He does not care for decency, sensitivity or people's feelings, he only wants to shock and horrify to feed his own ego. he is a perfect example of all that is wrong and bad about Hollywood and I do not support any current efforts of that pit of slime. I hope that all copies of his movies are destroyed by the censors and that he is somehow prevented from making more movies, maybe a new form of rating that forbids graphic violence is needed, for the results are clear in the multiple recent massacres in the United States and growing signs of similar run away violence and loss of reality in other countries, even in Japan where i read about random acts of terrible violence Tarantino is responsible for some of this and he should be shunned. Period.

I'm sure the movie was available on the web in China before it was even released in the American theaters. It's a little late in the game to put the genie back in the bottle.

Such paranoia! I wonder if audiences and readers are generally smart enough to make any connections between their own circumstances and those that feature in films and books anyway.

When will they release the movie, 'Bojangles Unchained?' As in, 'Mr. Bojangles.'

First of all, I would assume that censors would screen the movie BEFORE it even hit cinemas, so to blatantly assume it's censorship related is pretty bold of everyone. Everyone just kind of made that leap of logic by themselves I see.

Also, I am so sure that all our "free" nations will show all movies from every country in the world with absolutely no censorship at all whatsoever because, well, we're so free.

It's an incredibly violent and bloody film, even if it was censor related, perhaps it has to do with that and not any farce of a political message the movie halfheartedly attempts? But of course, no one believes that of the big, bad commies in China. No way their intentions can be a good one.

Apparently China-bashing is the dish of the day, but for all you expressing sympathy I assure you, China has plenty of its own movies to survive without Hollywood imports, thank you.

It's interesting no one questions why Japan doesn't put 100% of all English movies in their cinemas either. Or why the US doesn't screen Chinese movies in their theatres. Using entertainment as a form of propaganda is a habit of all governments throughout time. In today's globalized world why would any of you think ANY government would openly allow entertainment from anywhere in the world to freely be on display in their country without some form of screening or censorship?