Censorship in Movies: Part Three

A filmmaker living in a Chinese society that was constantly changing on a daily basis and enforced strict censure rules would face many difficulties.  If he was ignorant and neglected to keep up with the social issues unfolding around him, he may create a film that doesn’t fit how the Chinese government would want China to be portrayed in a film.  One wrong idea presented in a movie could send the would-be filmmaker to jail or worse, executed.  Such a high stress environment could put much pressure on the Chinese filmmakers to follow the demands of the government and keep the criticism to a minimal level.  In his movie Zhang Yimou portrays art as puppets.  Throughout the film the puppets are employed for a variety of reasons, the top reasons being to make enough money to live off of, and to appease the political demands such as entertaining soldiers.  When the puppets are burned it is as if the government has no more use for art in its new communism society.

The fact that Zhang Yimou was sent in his youth to work in the country field would have humbled his view on peasants and bestowed him with empathy for the poorer classes in society.  Living through the Cultural Revolution may have planted seeds of doubt in the mind of the aspiring filmmakers who grew up during this time.  Thus criticism would rise up against the Chinese government.  The affect of censorship in China also creates a need for an entire industry- the pirate industry.  Banned films are perfect for the pirate industry because they are the only ones who can supply the media, as it is banned from more commercial sources.  While the filmmaker won’t make as much money if any at all from a banned film, he can be sure that there will still be an audience for it.