The Current Issues of Chinese Film Classification System

杨悦

Abstract ： The major hot research topic in this paper is the Chinese film classification system. According to the review of Chinese censorships， the classification system seems to be unfeasible. Based on two interviews from Wang Xingdong and Shen Cheng， it can be come up with three underlying causes： shortcoming legal system， China's hypocritical pretense of traditional cultural values and unbalanced economic development between regions. Suggestions from relevant film makers and officers would be given in the end.

Key words ： censorship， China， film， classification system.

1. Introduction

Film classification system is very common in the world. Since the reform and opening up， China had gradually brought in some blockbusters to meet aesthetic needs of the domestic audience. Local Chinese directors had produced some excellent works， however， due to a few views from review committee of experts with "political consciousness"， many films were prohibited performed. This phenomenon has still lasted until now. The problem raises a lot of debates around Chinese film industry. This paper based on two interviews separately from Sheng Chen （a Chinese short film director） and Wang XingDong （a CPPCC member） to discuss some issues about the Chinese film classification system.

2. Review on the Chinese film censorship

Referring the Chinese film classification system， it has to talk about the film censorship in China. After the founding of People's Republic of China， the Chinese government has implemented the censorship of the film System. The current system is released in 1997 by the Film and Television Bureau - film management provision， in according to this provision， the government implement film censorship， State Administration of Radio， Film and Television （SARFT） set up film censor committee and film review committee to review films， and make the corresponding standard of review on the films which may be involved in politics， culture， ideology， social ethics， lifestyle and so on all aspects.

On March 1， 1989， SARTF issued Film Classification System Notice. It provides some circumstances like rape， theft， drug abuse， drug trafficking， prostitution which would be easy to lead children a sense of terror violence， murder， fight sequences in the film， all these were identified "No children under admitted". Since then， China Film Distribution and Exhibition had only two levels "No children under admitted" and "All ages admitted" to mark a film. But how old is the "Children" and how to avoid "inappropriate" content are still not clear. So this is just a lack of operational provision. "No children under admitted" become a cinema gimmick to attract audiences.

3. Current situation of classification system

In the recent years， more and more voices occurred from china society for establishing the completely film classification system. In 1994， the first time Hollywood movie was introduced into China， "The Fugitive". The local film producer and distributor became more focus on the Hollywood's most successful commercial elements of "Sex and Violence". In 1999， accompanied with the excellent American film "Saving Private Ryan" introducing into China， it eventually became the discussion fuse of film classification system. In this film， bloody， brutal war scenes triggered most parents' worried.

In fact， China imported a large number of parental guidance foreign films： "The Da Vinci Code"， "The Bridges of Madison County"， previously mentioned "Saving Private Ryan"and so on. Because of violence， bloody， sex and so forth， watching these films abroad should be under parental consent or guidance into the cinema， and must be at least 13 years old. When these films are shown in China， although a little bit cut were required， but no restrictions on audience. The same situation as the Chinese local film exhibition， "House of Flying Daggers"， "Kung Fu"， "The Banquet"and other shows in foreign countries make the restrictions on the audiences.

Regard to this issue， Wang Xingdong，

member of the National Committee of CPPCC， said：

Film by a grading system is the market

segmentation needs in order to protect the young people and minors. "All ages admitted" is obviously not consistent with market principles.

From Wang Xingdong's view， Adults and the children's thinking and aesthetic consciousness can not be the same and different artistic point of view. Classifying the films aimed to protect children. At present， movie producers for the purpose of seeking maximum benefits certainly added many commercial factors to stimulate audience sense. For adults， these factors can release tension under pressure life. But for minors， they can not distinguish what's reality and what's virtual world. So it must take protective measures， this is the classification.

On the other hand， many film directors also express their expectation for establishing the classification system. Shen Cheng， Chinese Short Film director and advertisements director， claimed that：

Without film classification system of laws and regulations， we produce films only based on standards of appreciation for both minors and adults. The result is not satisfied with adults， minors can not understand as well.Classification system will make the work of ours market position more clear， "All Ages Admitted" or "No children under admitted" is no longer the only criterion.

Throughout Shen Cheng's words， it is not hard to find classification system has significant meaning for directors. In recent years， Chinese films had made a great improvement and got award winning in many international film festivals. However， some of these movies can't be shown in public in China because of the censorship. This is bad news for domestic film directors. They had lost the opportunities of learning from each other. Chinese film need make progress； Chinese film director need create more multiple types of movies. So classification system is to be very urgent.

4. Underlying causes for unfeasible classification system

Why the film classification system is so hard to implement in China？ What are the crucial factors restrict the implementations？ According to a series of questions， the author based on the two interviews to come up several reasons as follows：

Firstly， the shortcoming of Chinese film system. Thinking ossification of Chinese bureaucracy and maintaining personal benefit and power are the sticking points. A scholar （2008） indicated that after implementing the grading system， all the films should be classified directly. However， the "Review Committee" is difficult to exercise the independent power in its relative space. Their pecuniary benefits and spiritual interests of the desire for power will be lost. Therefore， they would rather suppress some film productions to stop the film classification system. Shen Cheng had also mentioned in this stage：

China's legal system come a very long way， China has a long history of feudalism， and the Chinese film delay "legislation" due to the film media which is government running out of the few remaining earth.

To be sure， every country has its own film promotion methods and management features. Whereas， China's film bureaucracy is extremely conservative， they use their own standards to limit the spread of numerous outstanding film screenings. They prevented screening just because the director had an objective representation of the political factors or to pursue some artistic styles. Therefore， it has to say this is regret of Chinese film system.

Secondly， China's hypocritical pretense of traditional cultural values. Classification inevitably hit the sex， violence， bloody and many other themes in the films. But， in the Chinese film official's ideology， if permit film classification， it means that the Chinese government allow all participants with sex and violence film production and distribution， which will be harmful to the harmonious society. Shen Cheng gave the critical comments on this point：

The greatest difficulty depends on the government's open attitude on the films which used to be the red revolutionary propaganda position. There will a lot of problems on specific operational issues， but ideological emancipation could be the most important thing.

Thirdly， China's unbalanced economic development between regions leads to unfeasible classification system. Wang Xingdong indicated that：

The level of economic development determined the level of education development.In the relatively western areas， if showing some films with violence， sex and so on， it is hard to predict what will cause and impact that area. Our government will not take the risk easily for implementing the national range film classification system.

Throughout Wang Xingdong's opinion， economy is another important reason for implementing the classification system. Chinese economy is a very special situation. It can't copy any models from other developed countries. Within so large amount of population， the government's management is very discreet including film classification system. It should be complete considered about any possible results and impacts. So in light of some economic problems， film classification would be hard to implement at least at national range right now.

5. Suggestions from relevant film makers and officers

Nowadays， many Chinese film makers and social critics even some government officers expressed their own opinions， suggestions and expectations about this hot issues. All of these suggestions have a positive prospect and believe that China's film classification system can be implemented gradually. They can be concluded following aspects：

In the first place， the classification system should be integrated with a relatively complete legal system and it can be able to effectively supervise the implementation. So， for current China， it's particularly important to establish and perfect the legal system. Meanwhile， it also needs a supervisory mechanism to guarantee effective implementation of laws and regulations.

Moreover， at the beginning of implementing film classification system， it can weaken the censorship system relatively.

At the end， a series of measures like combating piracy， standardizing audio and video market management， reducing the cinema fare were advised. Some critics recommended make these measures integrated and not look upon a simple technical behavior implemented by SARFT. The establishment of China's film classification system should be a gradual process.

6. Conclusion and future prospects

In short， according to Wang Xingdong and Shen Cheng's interview， it could say Chinese film classification system will experience a very special and rough time in the future due to the China's conditions. What the government and relevant departments should do is that they have to base on china's conditions， put the film classification system in "Rule of the law" framework and incorporated it into the orbit of law. Meanwhile， ensure maximum limit degree of protection of people's cultural rights and the artist creation freedom， so as to promote the development of the film industry.

Reference：

[1] Cheng Jihua， 2005，11， 'the development of Chinese movie'， China Film Press， Beijing.

[2] Fu Yongchun， Zhen Han， 2007， 1， "In-spired by the film classification system in the United States".

[3] Mao Lin， 2007， 'Chinese Film Industry and the review system'.

[4] Pan Xianwei， 2008， "Underlying causes for unfeasible classification system"， Movie Literature.

[5]Tang Feng， 2008， 7， 'Comparison of China and USA film Censorship'.

[6]Wang Bo， 2009， 2， "China's film censorship Reflections"， New Visual Arts.

[7] Wang Xingdong， what does it mean of

Chinese film classification system？ Viewed at http：//www.bjreview.cn/Cn/2003-17/zm 200317-1.htm， on 12， May， 2010.

（作者單位：嘉兴市职业技术学院）