The James Bond movie that finally 007 was banned in China

China has a long and proud history of banning anything even remotely fun or cool. Back to the Future, for example, was banned in China. why? Because time travel as a concept was considered subversive enough to encourage citizens to reevaluate their own country’s history—I kid you not. China is so censorious that they even temporarily banned something as innocuous as The Big Bang Theory this time on the grounds that, well… the government never clarified. Look, I’m not totally against the idea of ​​banning The Big Bang Theory outright, but the principle is important here. The Chinese government exercises control over art; you know, the thing that allows people to express their individuality and capture the imagination of others, thereby bringing us all together? Yes, China likes to ban it.

The James Bond property is somewhere in the middle of the spectrum of Chinese censorship absurdity. It may seem unbelievable, but 007 films have been denied wide release in China for decades, ever since Dr. No started the most enduring film franchise as late as 1962.

Now, while this may seem as ridiculous as banning any other film, you might be able to understand why China was a bit outraged by England’s greatest spy. After all, he didn’t quite stand for the kind of dogged commitment to decency and rule-keeping that the Chinese Communist Party espouses. And he hated communism. All of this meant that Bond was persona non grata in China until recently—quite recently, in fact, which is shocking since it took more than 40 years for a Bond film to be granted the privilege of showing in Chinese cinemas.

In 2006 the greatest James Bond film ever made, Casino Royale debuted with then-new actor Daniel Craig as 007. Goldeneye director Martin Campbell returned to help shepherd this new era of Bond, which, like many action thrillers of the era, took cues from the Bourne franchise and gave 007 what was often called the “hard reset” treatment at the time. “Royal” saw Craig’s spy blow up embassies in Madagascar, planes in Miami, Venetian palaces and nearly blow the British government’s money in a high-stakes poker game against global terrorist private banker Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelsen). ). But for all the explosions, Casino Royale gave us the most human Bond yet, portraying the operative as a tortured soul who may still have a glimmer of humanity beneath his icy exterior – until Eva Green’s Vesper Lind extinguishes it by betraying him.

Apparently, all of this was enough for China to lift its ban on Bond. How Reuters As reported in 2007, Casino Royale, or Lingling Tee, became the first Bond film to receive a wide release in the country, with distributor Sony Pictures sending 470 prints of the film to theaters across the country, the most for a foreign release. in China at the time. Craig, Green and Campbell visited Beijing for the premiere, and Craig told Reuters that during his visit, someone on the street tried to sell him a bootleg copy of the film, which had been pirated on DVD since its worldwide release the year before. .

By then, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television of China, as it was then called, had outright banned 20 Bond films, and there was no official explanation as to why “Royal” was allowed to slip through the net. However, Sony Pictures China CEO Li Chou said at the time: “This Bond is a new beginning. He is not fighting the country, and Chinese officials have not asked for any cuts.” In other words, Bond was no longer a figure of Cold War Western aggression and resistance to communism.

What makes the Chinese release of Casino Royale truly amazing is that the government requested no cuts, allowing the film to be screened uncensored. Considering that the State Radio, Motion Picture and Television Authority (now the National Radio and Television Authority) had for years previously regularly cut Hollywood productions and had strict rules against the glorification of gambling, it’s really surprising that The Royal was given an uncensored release. , it was. It’s a movie that centers around a game of poker — and a damn entertaining one at that. If that’s not glorifying gambling, I’m not sure what is.

The explanation may be that, as Guardian reported at the time, “Casino Royale” “is likely to become the highest-grossing foreign film in China.” After all, the film is made 11.7 million dollars in the country, exceeding expectations. Which, rather than an official explanation for the lifting of the Bond ban, suggests that the CCP is willing to set aside its principled commitment to maintaining morality at home if it means a significant boost to the economy.

Unfortunately, the next film in the franchise, “Skyfall” — which featured a fantastic fight scene in Shanghai — required many cuts before it was released in Chinese. How BBC Among the requested cuts were reportedly the scene in which Bond beats up a guard in the aforementioned Shanghai sequence, references to sex work in Macau, and subtitle changes to avoid talk of torture by Chinese security forces. Still, the wet blankets at the National Radio and Television Authority have missed all the Bonds since The Royals, so that’s something – though China did ban Martin Scorsese films from 1997 to 2012a crime greater than any of the so-called offenses that got Commander Bond banned from entering the country for 40 years.