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Pirates Hits Choppy Seas in China

Fri., Jun. 15, 2007 11:17 AM PDT by Julie Keller

The Chinese government has decided that Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End star Chow Yun-Fat can take his portrayal of pirate lord Captain Sao Feng and walk the plank.

Nearly half of the actor's scenes in the summer blockbuster have be cut from the film in China due to what the official Xinhua news agency calls the "vilifying and defacing [of] the Chinese."

Or, as the Chinese movie magazine Popular Cinema put it: "The captain played by Chow is bald, his face heavily scarred. He also has a long beard and long nails, whose image is still in line with Hollywood's old tradition of demonizing the Chinese."

Chinese censors agreed and sliced Chow's screen time down to about 10 minutes.

Zhang Pimin, deputy head of the film bureau of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, told Xinhua that the cuts had been made "according to the country's relevant regulations on film censorship" and "China's actual conditions." He also added that the cuts "will not impair either the continuity of plot or the image of characters."

Anthony Marcoly, distribution chief at Walt Disney Studios Motion Picture Distribution International, says the Mouse House was aware of the alterations to the film. The censors, Marcoly understated to the Associated Press earlier this week, "weren't quite ecstatic with how the Chinese pirate was portrayed."

Among the scenes that won't be seen in China is one where Yun-Fat says, "Welcome to Singapore" because it implies that Singapore is a land of pirates.

But the editing-room snips haven't seemed to cut in to Pirates' financial take in China—the film pulled in an impressive $1.3 million on its opening day, according to Disney.

Not that Chinese moviegoers are thrilled with the chopped-up version.

"The cut has made the plot and the role of Captain Sao Feng difficult to understand," You Hui told Xinhua following a screening.

"I really didn't appreciate the film and I have no clue what they are talking about," another viewer added on the sina.com.cn Website. "Maybe it's become unintelligible because of the cuts."

The Pirates' censorship is just the latest example of a Hollywood import facing tough scrutiny. For instance, last year's Best Picture Oscar winner The Departed was banned altogether due to a minor subplot involving Chinese military officials trying to buy computer chips.

In any event, the controversy won't sink the latest Johnny Depp-Keira Knightly-Orlando Bloom. After just three weeks in theaters, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, has grossed $260 million in North American ticket sales and more than $750 million worldwide.