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Filmmaker asked to revise violent scenes
  • By Hien Huong | dtinews.vn | April 12, 2013 03:25 PM
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The Cinema Department has requested a halt on the release of a new movie directed by Charlie Nguyen so the production house could revise scenes labelled as too violent.

 

A scene from Chinatown

Ngo Phuong Lan, Director of the department, said that the halt to “Bui doi Cho Lon” or Chinatown was right as the film violated the country’s cinema regulations.

A half of the eight members of the National Film Review Council voted to ban the film starring Johnny Tri Nguyen.

The decision to stop the release initially faced strong opposition by production company, which claimed that authorities were simply trying to make problems for them and that it would be costly or even impossible to make revisions.

 


Movie said to contain gratuitous violence

According to the Cinema Department, after reviewing the film on October 26 last year the agency requested Chanh Phuong Studios, to either make changes to the script or temper the violent scenes to conform to current cinema regulations.

The company went on with production, however, and did not submit another version of the script for review.

The council conducted another review on March 19 this year, at which half of the members voted to either require changes or ban the film entirely.

Nguyen Thi Hong Ngat, Vice Permanent Chairwoman of the Vietnam Film Association, and member of the council, said, “The film needs revisions because it contains bloody scenes between rival gangs without the intervention of local authorities. The film also uses HCM City as a backdrop and does not give an accurate impression of real life in the metropolis."


Producers speed up revisions

“Under current regulations, "Bui Doi Cho Lon" should have been banned, but we have just asked the filmmakers to make changes," Lan said.

She added that on April 10, the filmmaker sent a document to the department admitting shortcomings during the making of the film. Chanh Phuong Studios and its partner Thien Ngan Studios have said that they are speeding up revisions.

The film's release date had been set for April 19.  

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