China modified the ending to the classic film Fight Club in order to conform with its restrictive censorship laws.
Over the weekend, Tencent Video made available in China a version of David Fincher’s 1999 film starring Brad Pitt & Edward Norton.
Fight Club, to the horror of its Chinese fans, had been drastically edited in order to alter the message from the film’s anti-capitalist anarchist message.
The new, censored ending shows authorities winning instead of multiple buildings going up in flames, like in the original.
China is home to some of the most strict censorship laws in the world. Authorities only approve a few foreign films each year, sometimes with severe cuts.
Over the weekend, Tencent Video made available in China a version of David Fincher’s 1999 movie starring Brad Pitt & Edward Norton.
The original’s closing scenes show Norton’s character The Narrator killing Tyler Durden (played by Pitt) and watching multiple buildings explode together with Marla Singer, Helena Bonham Carter. This suggests that Norton’s plot to downmodern civilisation is well underway.
China’s censored version shows Durden still being killed by The Narrator. However, the scene of exploding buildings is now replaced by a black-screen message: “The police quickly figured out all the details and arrested all the criminals. They successfully prevented the bomb from going off.”
This then states that Tyler, a fictional character in The Narrator’s imagination was sent to a “lunatic asylum” for psychological treatment. Tyler was eventually discharged.
Many Chinese viewers were outraged by the new ending, in which the state wins. They would have likely seen pirated copies of the original film.
In the closing scenes of the 1999 film Fight Club, Norton’s character watches multiple buildings explode with Marla Singer (Helena Bonham Carter)
In China’s censored version, however, the scene of exploding buildings is replaced by a black-screen message: “The police quickly figured out all the details and arrested every criminal, successfully stopping the bomb from going off.”
Tencent Video viewer remarked, “This is just too crazy.”
“Fight Club” on Tencent Video reveals that they do more than just add scenes to the story, according to a Weibo user.
At this time, it is unclear if the government ordered an alternative ending or whether the movie’s original producers modified the film.
Tencent declined to comment.
Hollywood studios frequently release alternatives cuts to clear Beijing’s censorship obstacles and gain access to lucrative markets for millions of Chinese consumers.
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