Slumdog Success Helps Chinese Critics to Complain About Lack of Freedom
Chinese critics are praising the success of the movie “Slumdog Millionaire” as an indirect way to complain about the lack of freedom for directors in China:
“The fate of this movie in India displays a sharp contrast with some Chinese films,” an article in China Youth Daily said. It mentioned Chinese film maker, Jia Zhangke, who won international acclaim for his film, Still Life. But Jia was was blamed for “trading the sufferings and sorrows of his motherland for the good impression of Westerners”. .. Yang Yuanying, vice director of Film Studies at Beijing Film Academy, compared it with previous Oscar-winnings like Crash and Babel that had strong political and social content.
“Slumdog Millionaire still included such political elements as race and class,” Yang was quoted in the official media as saying.
“Oscar-winner Slumdog Millionaire has resonated with audiences for having the guts to reveal social realities in India – police using torture to coerce a statement, the deaths of civilians out of religious conflicts, and child abductions and abuses,” the China Youth Daily said. It praised the Indian government has also been praised for allowing its screening in the face of criticism from people who believed that the movie blemished the image of India.
The Slumdog Millionaire movie trailer:
See also past CDT posts on the Chinese Movie Industry.
Image courtesy of Wikipedia.
