China | Cinema and censorship

What two films reveal about China

A low-budget movie about a sensitive social theme outshines a state-approved spectacular

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“I CAN’T believe the censors let this one slide”, remarks an online commentator on Zhihu, a question-and-answer forum. He was referring to “Dying to Survive”, a dark comedy released on July 5th which is on track to become one of China’s highest-grossing productions of all time. The film, which raked in a record $200m in its opening weekend on a budget of just $15m, is based on the true story of Lu Yong. Mr Lu was arrested in 2013 for peddling knock-off cancer drugs imported illegally from India (the actor playing him is pictured, wearing sunglasses, along with two others in roles as smugglers-cum-patients).

This month will also be noted in Chinese cinematic history for a different reason. On July 15th “Asura”, the most expensive film ever made in China at $113m, was pulled from cinemas just three days after its launch owing to dismal box-office takings. The fantasy film had collected a humiliating $7m.

The contrasting popularity of the two films should worry China’s cultural commissars. “Dying to Survive” has been a huge success despite being a radical departure from China’s film policy, which is to encourage the production of uplifting fare that presents the government in a good light. Chinese-made films hardly ever touch on sensitive social issues. “Dying to Survive”, however, confronts the problem of unaffordable drug prices head-on. A study in 2012 found that a fifth of commonly used Western medicines were more expensive in China than anywhere else.

The film has clearly touched a raw nerve among viewers. Perhaps to stave off criticism, the medical-insurance administration announced last week that it had invited ten foreign and eight domestic drug companies for “negotiations” in a bid to drive down prices. On July 10th the food and drug authority said it would speed up approval of foreign drugs. Bruce Liu of Fudanin, a health-care consultancy in Shanghai, predicts that cinema-goers’ spirited reaction will prompt the government to include more drugs on its public-reimbursement scheme. Government censors may have come to regret giving the film the green light. They have reportedly asked promoters to tone down the marketing.

The spectacular flop of “Asura”, which glorifies Tibetan mythology, suggests that trying to engineer a Hollywood-scale blockbuster by adding special effects to a politically correct script is unlikely to work. China, for all its grand ambitions, has yet to find a winning formula. If the past month is any guide, it is the more freewheeling films that are likelier to be box-office hits. For the government, that is not good news.

This article appeared in the China section of the print edition under the headline "Mark-up madness"

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