From The Australian:
Two months after being banned in China as lewd and unpatriotic following her critically acclaimed role in Lust, Caution, Tang Wei has yet to work again.
Activists and people in the film industry are now beginning to take up her cause on commercial, artistic and legal grounds.
Lust, Caution was made chiefly in Shanghai by Oscar-winning Taiwanese director Ang Lee, and applauded by many Asian critics as a masterpiece. But China’s State Administration of Radio, Film and Television insisted that seven minutes – essentially, a sex scene with Tang and the male lead, played by Hong Kong actor Tony Leung – be removed, and Lee himself did the editing.
The film has nevertheless been a massive hit since its theatre release in China, and has become the second biggest ticket seller after Titanic, earning $42 million. Thousands of mainland Chinese travelled to Hong Kong to watch the uncut version, helping make it the most popular Chinese language film of the past year.
