Django Unchained pulled after premiere

Christoph Waltz as Schultz, left, and Jamie Foxx as Django in "Django Unchained," directed by Quentin Tarantino. Source: AP

Django Unchained became Django Unscreened as Quentin Tarantino's movie was pulled from Chinese theatres on opening day.

The rare suspension order by China Film Group Corp. was confirmed by theatre employees throughout China, and has led to speculation that the Hollywood film could have run afoul of Chinese censors despite weeks of promotion in the country.

Calls to the importer and to China's regulatory agency, the State Administration of Radio Film and Television, were unanswered. The China office of Sony Pictures, which released the film, refused to comment.

Django Unchained reportedly cut some violent scenes and had already been cleared by China's rigorous censors, who generally remove violence, sex and politically edgy content. With such an exacting system, suspension on a film's premiere date is unusual.

Tian Zaixing, general manager of the Beichen Fortune Centre movie theatre in the southern city of Kunming, said he could not recall any other imported film being halted on the opening day. The order from China Film Group came in a phone call around 10am, he said.

"We were excited about the film yesterday," he said. "We had had high expectations for this film's box office."

Mr Tian said he had hoped the movie would bring about one-tenth of the monthly box office, or about 150,000 yuan ($22,800), to his six-screen theatre in April. Now, he must scramble to fill newly opened slots for screening.

"This means we might not be able to meet our box-office goal for the year," Mr Tian said.

The cited technical reason might only be a ruse, said Mr Tian, who was unable to provide an alternative explanation.

He dismissed speculation that a nude scene was the offending culprit.

"The censors have sharper eyes than we do," Mr Tian said. "Shouldn't they have already spotted it?" He added the scene was not lewd at all but powerful in making the audience sympathetic toward one character.

The film stars actors well-known to the Chinese audience: Leonardo DiCaprio as a plantation owner and Jamie Foxx as a freed slave who trains to become a bounty hunter and demands his wife's freedom.

It made more than $US160 million ($152 million) at the North American box office and has proved successful overseas as well. China has risen to the second-biggest movie market with sales of $US2.7 billion last year, according to the Motion Picture Association of America.

A man who is on the official promotional team for the film but refused to give his name because of the perceived sensibility of the issue said there had been no prior warning about the suspension and that the film's midnight premiere was unaffected.

Photographer Xue Yutao said he was about one minute into the movie at a Beijing theatre on Thursday morning when a couple of theatre employees walked in and told the audience that the screening would be postponed. The announcer did not give a reason or say when the movie would be re-shown, Mr Xue said.

"It was so sudden. I was very shocked," Mr Xue said. "How could this be possible? Something like this has never happened before."

Mr Xue said he resorted to a pirated copy of the film and did not see anything that would have offended Chinese censors.

"I'm not a noble man," the photographer said of his viewing of pirated movies. "I would still prefer to see it in the theatre"
 

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Worthington snubs film premiere

Myles Pollard and Xavier Samuel both made the WA premiere of their new film but co-star Sam Worthington was missing. Source: Supplied

FIFTY metres of red carpet, a scarlet helicopter and 1300 guests, but no sign of Rockingham local turned Hollywood star Sam Worthington.

The Australian premiere of his surfing movie, Drift, was shot in Margaret River and was screened under the stars in Yallingup last night.

The movie’s major celebrity may have been missing in action, but other big names including Xavier Samuel, fresh from his turn in the Twilight saga, and Myles Pollard, who once charmed in McLeod’s Daughters, were happy to pose for the cameras.

Samuel’s new girlfriend, actress Emily Browning, was also spotted on the red carpet, which was rolled out alongside vintage surfboards and cars used in the film.

Pollard, standing with his former model and TV presenter wife, Brigitta, admitted to a few nerves before his labour of love was screened. “I’m nervous, I’m excited,” said the actor and producer. “It’s bizarre. It’s been a seven year project, I’ve been through the production, the delivery and now I’m standing on the red carpet.”

Drift is set in the 1970s and tells the story of two brothers – played by Pollard and Daniel – as they grow up in the surf region, building a surfboard business while battling bikies, police, an uncharitable bank manager and drug problems.

Brigitta Pollard said her husband did all of his own surfing scenes, and that big wave conditions couldn’t have been better for the winter filming. “On the first day shooting at Cow Bombie the waves were 20 foot,” she said.

Ms Pollard said the cast was disappointed Worthington, who plays a hippie surf photographer, couldn’t make the event. “He’s tied up in the States filming,” she said. “That’s what happens when you’re a big Hollywood star.”

Surprisingly, Worthington is not the lead role. His shaggy haired, bearded character, who lives in a psychedelic rainbow coloured bus, floats in and out of the film while Samuel's cheeky smile and Pollard’s buff bod get more attention.

CROWD PLEASER

Drift begins, unexpectedly, in black and white, but when the first big set of waves is tackled by Samuel's fearless character, the screen merges into colour.

From there it’s a captivating ride through the brothers’ lives, knitted together with a strong dose of drama, adrenaline-fueled action and laconic Aussie humour.

The big surf scenes are intense, with artful cinematography reaching inside rolling barrels, pushing through white water and showing the surge of air as a big wave crashes, all while surfers ride up and down huge green walls. It’s so real you can almost feel the spray, and mouths gape as the swell builds.

Drift dutifully plays its role in showcasing the beauty of the region, with aerial shots zooming over clusters of seals, pods of dolphins and the South West’s iconic tall trees.

It gives a nod to West Australian pursuits too, from the days of the timber mills to the much-loved pastimes of diving for crayfish and hanging around at beachside bonfires.

There’s no doubt the film was lovingly received by the sizeable audience, with many cheering and whistling each time a recognisable location loomed large.

And with barely a murmur about Worthington’s absence - but plenty of banter about the likely international success of this fantastic, locally produced film - we expect you’ll be hearing plenty more about Drift.

DRIFT will open in cinemas nationally on May 2 and is set for US release soon after.
 

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