More Than 1 Message in China’s ‘Ju Dou’

This year, for the first time, a Chinese film has been nominated for a highly coveted Oscar. Beijing should be basking in the limelight of this new international recognition. Instead, it tried to kill the nomination.

Thankfully, Chinese authorities did not succeed in yanking “Ju Dou” out of the film competition. That would have further chilled artistic and cultural expression in China.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has rightly rejected attempts by the Chinese government to remove “Ju Dou” as an Oscar contender for best foreign film. It was one of five films nominated for an Academy Award out of 36 entries by various governments. The movie, directed by promising young film-maker Zhang Yimou, portrays the tale of adultery and revenge of two rebellious lovers in a dye factory in northern China during the 1920s.

“Ju Dou” has received critical acclaim elsewhere. Indeed, it was the Chinese government that sponsored the film’s entry in the Cannes Film Festival in France last May, where it won the Luis Bunuel Award given by Latin American film critics.

The Chinese Film Bureau in Beijing originally submitted the film for an Oscar nomination last fall. Recently, however, it sought to withdraw it on a technicality--that the film was not commercially shown in China as required by academy eligibility rules.

The academy, which defines a commercial run as a one-day showing with paid admission, said “Ju Dou” was shown to paying viewers at college campuses and at special screenings in China.

Chinese authorities may be concerned about the film’s bleak portrayal of rural life. Unfortunately, its attempt to quash recognition for this film reflects its continuing hard-line stance since the 1989 Tian An Men demonstrations.

The academy acted properly in keeping the film as a nominee. To have done otherwise would have improperly politicized the competition. The world may see “Ju Dou” as just a film. It also has come to represent a tale about freedom of artistic expression.