How to Dance with China’s Censorship?

The box office results of Pi Pian have shown an upward trend in recent years. In 2007, the average revenue of those films was 4,573,900 yuan ($745,541.97) but it almost tripled to 137.69 million yuan ($22.44 million) by the first half of 2013. Subsequently, investment returns were surprisingly high. After the distribution rights to The Expendables 1 were purchased at $0.5 million while earning $16.3 million at the box office, Pi Pian have become a commodity worth fighting for. Consequently, the price of the distribution rights has surged. The Expendables 2 was sold at $5 million but it raked in around $57 million. The price for The Expendables 3’s distribution rights reached $14 million, making it the most expensive Pi Pian so far.

Compared with a revenue-sharing film whose foreign production company will pay the costs of local promotion, the Pi Pian’ production company can avoid the risk of a poor box office performance caused by censorship or insufficient promotion. Sometimes, it is possible for the company to gain larger profits. Even though China Film Group might soon ask to share the revenue with the distributors of Pi Pian grossing more that 40 million yuan ($6.52 million), a solid growth of such films’ presence in China seems here to stay.

As long as a film wants a share in the Chinese market, it needs to pass censorship. As for co-production projects, they are all required, in the first place, to apply for a GAPPRFT permission in order to make the film.

Theoretically, Pi Pian’s production companies do not have to worry about censorship because it is their buyers who will take the risk. However, Chinese distributors also have experience of dealing with censorship and they are more concerned about the regulations. If a film seems risky to Chinese buyers, they will not import it, regardless of its quality. Additionally, the period of validity for a Pi Pian is one year and the film cannot be released after that, so buyers of Pi Pian are generally cautious, especially when it comes to an expensive film. For instance, if Django Unchained were a Pi Pian instead of a revenue-sharing film, it would never have been re-released this year after the authorities pulled it from theatres.

On July 17, the General Office of the State Council released the Notice on the Job Description and Staff Structure of the General Administration of Press and Publication, announcing the official cancellation of “censorship for scripts that deal with general themes”, but filmmakers will still be required to submit synopsis for public notification. The news, regarded as the dawn of a new, more open Chinese film market, spread like wild fire among Chinese audiences and foreign filmmakers.

However, Chinese filmmakers and distributors showed little enthusiasm for the notice. Actually, this notice has already been in effect for three to four years minus the explicit stipulation and during that time, the Chinese government has never relaxed censorship requirements for either domestic films or imported films.

Films dealing with special topics refer to co-productions, revolutionary historical themed films, documentaries about major incidents and films that touch upon foreign affairs, ethnic groups, religion, military affairs and judiciary, etc. Thus, there are still some grey areas between general topics and special topics.

In addition, the partial cancellation of censorship for scripts does not mean the cancellation of film censorship. A film could complete shooting with a filming permit after its synopsis had been approved by the GAPPRFT; however, it only could be publically released in Mainland China if it has passed censorship restrictions and obtained the Permit for Film’s Public Projection. In the past, several films with shooting permits failed to pass censorship before their release dates, such as Ning Hao’s No Man’s Land (2010).

Some directors, such as Jia Zhangke, think the cancellation of censorship of film scripts could reduce the investment risk for producers during the process of writing screenplays, which is more encouraging for artistic creation. However, there are still some producers who tend to submit a complete screenplay for approval and then shoot exactly in accordance with the approved script in case they might lose everything.

Director Liu Jie said, “The provision about importing equipment for Sino-foreign co-productions will simplify the procedure for approval but the new rules are meaningless, especially the rule cancelling script censorship. Currently, there have been no changes to the strict censoring system. Moreover, if the authority eases up on script censorship, it will be a disaster for films that do not receive the Permit of Public Projection after months of filmmaking. Films of general topics can avoid the procedure for approval but it is not the same situation for significant historical themed films and gangster films. This does not make any difference.”

The censoring system in China is remotely similar to the Hays Code in the United States, which stipulates “Authority figures had to be treated with respect and the clergy could not be portrayed as comic characters or villains.” If the subject of this code was changed into “people’s army, armed police, public security bureau and judicial system”, it could be the core rules of the censoring system in China. This provision is not unfamiliar to European and American filmmakers but they always come into difficulty when faced with hidden rules.

Realistically, aside from written regulations, the core issue for Chinese censorship is ideology. For instance, Luc Besson is a popular French director in China. His animation Arthur and the Invisibles was accepted as a revenue-sharing film; however, his work The Lady was banned in China and the title became so controversial that it was not even displayed on film websites and search engines. Even though in the film there is only one line mentioning the Chinese government and the name Aung San Suu Kyi is not particularly sensitive, there is no doubt that the political topic and the ideology reflected in the film have crossed the invisible line. Politics-related and religion-related films are very likely to be banned in China. Consequently, film buyers are not willing to take the risk and they will stay away from any such films.

Commercial films seem to be “safer” in terms of topics but they normally revolve around love, fighting or both. Since there is no film-rating system in China, nude and violent scenes have become a focal point for censorship. After the Chinese film market opened up in 1994, the first batch of imported Hollywood films included action movies such as Speed and True Lies. Action films are able to pass the censorship restrictions as long as they do not feature visually explicit portrayals of extreme violence.

An “explicit portrayal of extreme violence” can be used to refer to scenes such as the vivid violent scene in Mystery directed by Lou Ye. At the end of the movie, a man hits a homeless man with a hammer dozens of times until he eventually dies. Prior to its public release, the Film Bureau suggested cutting out a part of the scene and only keeping two hits. 17 days later, the two sides reached a compromise that Lou Ye would fade out the three-minute violent scene without impairing the artistic integrity of the film. The director ended up releasing the film’s Chinese version for public screenings without his name as the auteur.

In comparison, the censorship authority has a less tolerant attitude towards nudity.

Steven Spielberg had hoped to export Schindler’s List into China but GAPPRFT required him to cut the scene in which Jewish female prisoners shower together after being transported to Auschwitz. Spielberg refused, and Chinese audiences were not able to see the masterpiece in theatres.

In early revenue-sharing films in 1994, the only shot shown nipples on Chinese screens was the scene in Titanic that sees Jack drawing Rose. When 3D Titanic was shown in China in 2012, the scene was removed for “the 3D version would be much more vivid.”

Gamer, released in 2010, featured violent scenes but it passed the censorship laws by deleting all the pornographic scenes. Quentin always wanted to enter the Chinese market so he deliberately made cuts to Django Unchained, turned the blood to a darker color and lowered the height of the blood splatter. Eventually, he received a revenue-sharing film slot. Surprisingly, the film was pulled out of theatres after one minute of its Chinese screening due to a nude scene of the male character. Although it later re-released after a second round of cutting, it missed its best screening season.

There is still room for negotiation for “violence” and it is possible to drop veiled hints about “sex”. However, it is impossible to cross the bottom line, showing any female nipple bulges and male private parts.

Recently, Hollywood films have begun to add some Chinese elements as unique selling points. Unfortunately, as far as Chinese censors have been concerned, these ‘Chinese elements’ have either impaired the image of China or hurt Chinese people’s feelings and national pride. Thus, Chinese elements in foreign films need to be subtly handled.

The revenue-sharing film Man in Black 3 had a scene in a Chinese restaurant. In the movie, the boss revealed his true self as an alien and then a waitress stuck out her green tongue and the Chinese people’s memories were all taken away. Censors required this entire scene to be removed suggesting these negative roles would destroy the international image of Chinese people.

As a Pi Pian, Looper intended to make a killing in China as a co-production featuring  extra scenes with actress Xu Qing and footage shot in Shanghai. Unexpectedly, the GAPPRFT asked the production company to delete plot lines in which the leading character became addicted to drugs and killed many people in Shanghai when he was young. This resulted in a rather flat character and affected the film’s storytelling.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen was also accused of impairing the image of China. The production crew selected an abandoned steel mill set with antique furniture to shoot as a Shanghai Chemical plant and a damaged viaduct at Huaihai Road. Their good will was refused since they presented Shanghai as a shabby city, which was not in accordance with the reality. As a result, the movie’s release was delayed again and again.

If an imported movie or co-production includes scenes that show Chinese people being killed, it will most likely not pass the censorship restrictions. In Skyfall, it was required that the scene where a French assassin shot a Chinese security guard in the lobby of a Shanghai skyscraper be removed, on the assumption that Chinese people’s feelings will be hurt if a foreigner can easily kill Chinese people in China. The Sino-French co-production Purple Butterfly is yet another example.

Additionally, the censorship tends to become stricter when significant events are happening in China. Wang Xiaoshuai’s Beijing Bicycle was originally going to be shown during the period of Beijing’s Olympic bid. However, the authorities thought that the film “contains too many scenes of Beijing’s hutong instead of its modern buildings and might affect the bid.” It was banned until 2013.

Johnnie To had many experiences of filming in Mainland China and so he prepared in accordance with the censorship laws when he made the crime film Drug War (2012) set in Mainland China. In the movie, greedy drug dealers were mainly people from Hong Kong, while the righteous brave policemen were all from Mainland China. Although the film was shot in Tianjin, all crimes were committed in a fictional city called Jinhai. Any scene that might be required to remove would not affect the storyline or characterization. Nevertheless, Johnnie To claimed that the film was very lucky to have been approved..

As to risks involving small details, even Chinese distributors, including the China Film Group, cannot figure them out. Luckily, most films are simply required to delete or revise a few scenes. Basically, if the background is set in modern China, the film should reflect a civilized, harmonious and developed society. If the background is set in ancient times, the film should embody the strength and excellence of Chinese culture. If the film mentions overseas Chinese, they should be industrious, wise and righteous. Producers need to deal with key words like crime, superstition, ignorance, poverty, vulgarity and underdevelopment with great caution. If producers are not aiming for a co-production project, which requires Chinese locations, special regions, like Hong Kong or Macau can offer “safer” opportunities.

After crossing the major barrier of censorship, foreign production companies’ next big problems are scheduling and promotion.

Production companies of revenue-sharing films normally bear the costs of promotion but the China Film Group will take charge of actual promotion works. Compared with private companies, state-owned China Film Group is weak in or merely indifferent about marketing and its marketing methods do not work in rising second- and third-tier cities. Due to the effects of piracy on box office performance, slots available for revenue-sharing films are usually shared by franchises with loyal audiences and blockbusters that look way better when watching in cinemas. Such as James Bond 007, Die Hard, Fast & Furious and the likes of Avatar and Pacific Rim.

Some genre films featuring stars favored by numerous Chinese fans have good chances to be imported, such as Les Misérables, The Devil Wears Prada and Happiness Never Comes Alone, but for those artsy ones, such as Vanilla Sky, they will be released in China. Today, the standards have let more and more French comedies and South Korean genre films take the slots on non-American films which were previously mainly shared by European films.

Some highly praised films, such as The King’s Speech, Hugo, A Separation and The Artist, were released in China as Pi Pian instead of revenue-sharing films due to strongly artistic features or a long wait for approval. As they have to wait for screening schedules after already being imported quite late, the best timing to create media hype has already passed before they have even been released. Some movie-goers who care about film awards might watch these films on the Internet or on DVD while remarkable box office performances do not always leading to positive reviews. After the Oscar Award winning films mentioned above were given the cold shoulder in China, private companies that distribute Pi Pian have realized that fame and awards do not guarantee huge profits. Thus, they turn their attention to marketable films that either have large-scale scenes, an all-star cast and advanced technology or literature adaptations that target specific fans. The success of The Expendables franchise lies in its audiences who were familiar with the tough characters since the first year of revenue-sharing films.

If the operation of a GAPPRFT-approved film is operated correctly, it should not be that difficult to earn more than 10 million yuan ($1.63 million) at the box office. This has resulted in investors being willing to pay high prices to purchase more and more competitive imported films, thereby elevating the general quality of Pi Pian. However, this also has made some buyers become blind followers for certain film genres.

Some industrial insiders said that in 2003 and 2004, the flat rate for an imported film was around $20,000 to 30,000 and no more than $40,000. Subtracting the costs of translation and promotion, a small private company could easily earn over $0.16 million. However nowadays, the prices for films have increased to more than $1 million and small companies have been forced to withdraw from the market of Pi Pian.

Additionally, local films have continuously worked miracles and achieved astonishing box office performance despite having low budgets, implying that Chinese audiences’ taste in films has shifted from big-budget productions to fine quality medium-budget films. After the upsurge in bidding for Pi Pian has slowed down, some major companies, such as Bona Group, Le Vision Pictures and Enlight Media, etc., probably could reverse the trend that the genres of Pi Pian have been increasingly similar to the genres of revenue-sharing films, in that they have sound promotion systems and successful experience in marketing small-budget films.

In 2011, Vietnamese director Tran Anh Hung successfully presented his film Norwegian Wood in China after deleting sexual scenes, bringing hope for art house films. Since the book was once again translated into Chinese in 2001, Shanghai Translation Publishing House has released 6 versions and printed over 1.7 million copies. Considering the influence of the book among white collar workers and students, the Shanghai Translation Publishing House actively communicated with the film distributor and facilitated the eventual import of the film: the first case of a publishing house help import a film.

Besides art house films, many animations also suffer resistance.

In China, children are always regarded as the target audiences for animations. As a film “only for children”, The Lion King won a slot as a revenue-sharing film thanks to its remarkable performance in North America. The film met people’s expectations, achieving 14 million yuan ($2.23 million by today’s exchange standard) at the box office. It tops the box office record of animations screened in China for 13 years until the release of Kung Fu Panda, whose major edge was its appealing Chinese elements.

Taking the number of screens and ticket prices into consideration, The Lion King is a  record that no other film has been able to overstep until now. However, it cannot be applied to the current state of animation in China. Why? The major audience group in 1990s grew up in an age lacking imported products, who literally take “animation” as “naïvity”. By copying the successful model of The Lion King presented by Disney, other animations including Pocahontas, Arabian Nights and even Mulan earned a lot by selling film-related products but they still failed to attract grown-up audiences to theatres.

Pixar also made moves to enter the Chinese market. It explored a space for CG animations with the release of Toy Story, a film full of the delights of childhood, and these films met the criterion of family animations that could attract children through stories and draw adults’ attention with technologies. During the first decade of revenue-sharing films, imported films which broke the box office records did not feature human characters (especially adults), which enhanced the stereotype that suggested animations were made for small children, such as Disney’s The Lion King, Shrek, Finding Nemo presented by Pixar and Ice Age produced by DreamWorks.

When buyers are selecting animations to purchase, “suitability for children” is the main criterion. Besides cute characters and a simple understandable story, animations cannot involve premature love relationship or bloody violent scenes. For example, despite being marked 9.3 out of 10 (by 296,826 viewers) on douban.com and 9.0 out of 10 (by 49231 viewers) on mtime.com, Wall·E was denied because “there was no dialogue for the first 30 minutes so children may have problems understanding the film.” Even the “educational” film Up missed the summer vacation period due to a long examination by the censor.

Believing that “children are the only target audience of animations”, GAPPRFT started to strengthen the limitation of quotas for animations on TV screens, prohibiting TV stations to show imported animations during prime time. Meanwhile, the authorities provided full support for domestic animations, with the hope that one day, Chinese animations too can be “exported”. At that time, the new 90s generation, the main group of current box office contributors, due to the influence of Japanese cartoons, had different impressions of animations. According to Protection and Lost: The Study of the Screen Quota Policy on Chinese Animation published in 2009, more than 40% high school students are still in the habit of watching animations.

Elementary students who were born after the release of the ban on animations seemed more likely to accept local animations and dragged their parents to see Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf (Zhao Chongbang) ,which earned over 100 million yuan ($16.34 million). In comparison, imported animations targeting at children, such as Chicken Little, struggled to attract teenagers and adults.

Consequently, universal appeal and a mass fan base are the predetermined factors for animations to enter the Chinese market and then make a killing at the box office. Kung Fu Panda is an example of universal appeal. A straight storyline and anthropomorphic animals suit children’s tastes; meanwhile, grown-up audiences  like traditional martial arts setting and diversified personalities. The Ice Age and Shrek franchises entered into theatres successfully because they had the mass audience appeal. Young kids like to watch something new, while grown-ups enjoy the continuation of the story. After the GAPPRFT allowed an additional 14 premium format revenue-sharing films, 3D animations were no longer subject to the initial  quota of 20 films. Currently, they are more likely to be imported than 2D animations.

At present, private companies prefer to purchase the animations that already have a confirmed audience. Primarily, this is to minimize risk. If a TV series acquired a TV broadcasting permit, the film of the same franchise can usually pass the censorship laws. Besides, Pi Pian cannot compete with revenue-sharing films for the best screening schedule; thus, it is the only way to guarantee certain box office revenue. The two black horses in 2011, Detective Conan: Quarter of Silence (grossing over $3.26 million in three days) and Mega Monster Battle: Ultra Galaxy Legends (earning over $4.89 million) are theatrical versions of TV animations Detective Conan (which has been shown in China since 1996 until today) and Ultraman (imported into China in the 1990s) respectively. Although third installment Arthur and the Two Worlds War did not receive a revenue-sharing film slot like the previous two episodes did, a buyer purchased it due to the franchise’s great performance at the box office.

In conclusion, in most cases, better known films and franchises will prevail at the box office but for foreign companies seeking to enter the Chinese market, to find a local partner who is familiar with the censorship system and also good at advertising and marketing would be a stable solution. Legendary Pictures established a joint venture, Legendary East, in China; Luc Besson’s EuropaCorp built a Chinese partnership with Fundamental Films; Sony reached a strategic agreement with Youku Inc.

These projects will not only be for the convenience of exporting films into the Chinese film market but also will provide an opportunity for cultural exchange and will engage interest from overseas and cultivate foreign audiences for Chinese films.