Why was it banned in China?
I haven't been able to find this movie yet but I read the description and was wondering why it was banned in China. It certainly doesn't sound like it has anything that China would ban it.
shareThis film was NOT banned in China. There might have been a few theaters that delayed release, but as many here have mentioned...it WAS released in Chinese theaters. The myth that this movie was banned is nothing more than anti-Chinese propaganda.
The Western media also often says that Zhang Yimou was banned for 5 years by the Chinese government in 1994 following the release of "To Live." The New York Times even reported this as fact on 08/08/2008, the day of the Olympic's opening ceremony, which Zhang directed. However, a quick check of IMBD clearly shows that he made 5 movies during this 5-year period. Once again, this is simply an example of the Western media lying for propaganda purposes. Zhang Yimou is actually a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, which is the main political advisory body of the PRC.
There was some controversy surronding this film, but the Chinese censors approved it. The controversy was because this movie was widely seen as a condemnation of traditional confucian ideals. Some people in the West have tried to claim that the master was a symbol for the communist government. That simply isn't the case. Although he could be symbolic of any authority, this movie illustrates a stark contrast between the cruelty of women in traditional Chinese society, with their much improved status in modern China.
I also don't get how anyone can interpret that movie is supposed to represent the modern Chinese government as the bad guys.
Why would this film make the Chinese Government look bad? If anything, it shows how horrible lives were before the arrival of Communism - that women were possessions and slaves were treated like crap.
The message is so obvious that I think the West is desperate to smear communism and anything related to it, because according to them 'American democracy' is the best thing ever. They are so arrogant that they don't even bother to acknowledge that different countries require different systems.