What could have upset Chinese officials so much about Yun-fat’s scenes? Mostly due to the fact that he recited a poem in Cantonese. Chow Yun-fat plays the role of a poet-reading Singapore pirate and a major scene in which he is waxing poetically from the works of Tang dynasty poet Li Bai were considered offensive by officials, as were some of Yun-fat’s fighting scenes. Also scenes depicting ghosts and cannibalism were sliced and diced from the movie.
That’s not new; the Communist Gov’t censor everything. It’s too bad they cannot keep all the pirated DVDs off the streets.
Minor nitpick: Chow Yun Fat’s surname is Chow, middle name Yun, and given (first) name is Fat. The Chinese place their family name first.
We are aware of the Chinese way of giving a name, however, for film purposes in the West he is almost always listed as Chow Yun-fat, so we generally use that designation throughout the Western press.
Here are the various ways this great actor’s name has been seen on the marquee over the length of his career:
Yun-Fat Chow, Wo hu cang long, Yun Fat Chow, Chow Yun-Fat,
Chow Yun Fat and Chow Yuen Fat
So – take your pick.
It’s not like they won’t see the uncut version before the edited version comes to theaters
You got that right Keith – in fact, I have no doubt that uncut pirated copies were already on China’s streets before it even hit American theaters. 🙂