Chinese censors have pulled the plug on a movie about two homeless children who take care of each other.
"Due to issues in post-production, we are withdrawing 'Wild Child' from release on July 10," the producers said in a public statement dated July 3, adding that full refunds will be issued. "We would like to convey our sincerest apologies to colleagues in movie theaters and all of our audience.”
"Keep growing up well!" the statement said. "We'll be back, pinky swear!"
The movie's apparent axing comes as the ruling Chinese Communist Party calls on creative industries to produce more content lauding its achievements and offering up "positive energy" to audiences.
The party's censors operate behind the scenes, reviewing movies in production and sometimes making compulsory changes during the editing process.
The complete withdrawal of a film is seldom explained publicly, while producers and directors are unlikely to be outspoken about the reasons because their livelihoods depend on government approval.
Only rosy stories
In April, online censors deleted hundreds of online family dramas amid an ongoing campaign to focus on the joys of family life rather than its sorrows and frustrations, and encourage more couples to marry and have children, in a bid to boost flagging birth rates.
“Wild Child” had been among a group of wholesome family films scheduled to coincide with the summer holidays, and had been listed as the No. 2 movie that people most want to see by the ticket-sales platform Taopiaopiao, according to screenshots posted in an article by government-backed news site The Paper.
Projected total box office was reported by the platform at more than 500 million yuan (US$68 million), with pre-sales already running at around 5 million (US$687,000) when the movie was pulled.
Australia-based writer Yuan Hongbing said the decision likely came down straight from the desk of Cai Qi, the member of China's all-powerful Politburo Standing Committee who handles propaganda.
"According to our information, Cai Qi was the one who said that this movie didn't conform to the main theme of encouraging young people and teenagers to grow and thrive in a positive way," Yuan told RFA Mandarin in an interview on Thursday.
"[He thought] it would also mislead people into having a negative view of life in today's China, so he stopped it from being screened."
An orphan’s life
The theatrical trailer for the movie by director Yin Ruoxin was still available on Netease on Thursday.
It shows a pair of lovable orphans, one a teenager and the other much younger, snatching leftover food from restaurant tables, stealing fruit from street stalls and cruising around town in a bicycle rickshaw with a dilapidated sofa strapped to it.
"They have no mom or dad, and get by on food that others leave behind," says the voice over. "If there's no food, they steal bananas, but this time they get into trouble, and think they're in for a beating. But the stall-holder turns a blind eye."
The younger child is broken out of a cage by the older, and tries his best to take care of him, but they're not related to each other, the narrator says.
The trailer contains scenes of bullying, an incident with a noose and other forms of physical assault by other kids, prompting the older child to round up the bullies and steal all of their cash at sword-point. The pair are homeless, bedding down at night on exposed concrete, with nothing but a sheet of cardboard to lie on.
Later, a Dickensian-style beggar king feeds and houses the children, sending the older ones in his gang to steal badges from flashy cars like Mercedes Benz from an underground carpark and paying them very little in return. The pair eventually wind up living in an abandoned apartment building without external help.
‘Cares about human life’
Taiwanese political commentator Tseng Chien-yuen said the movie was based on true stories of children who struggle to survive on the streets of Chinese cities.
"Society needs to be reminded at all times that there is room for improvement," Tseng said. "That's how progress is made."
"This movie cares about human life, and wants its audience to share in that compassion," he said.
Some social media comments expressed disappointment that they would now not be able to see the film, which was listed among top search terms on Sina Weibo around 8.00 a.m. Taipei time on Thursday.
"Sounds like a heartwarming movie," user @Thinking_about_it_makes_me_fat commented, while another comment said the movie reminded them of street kids they had seen in the southern cities of Guangzhou and Shenzhen.
"Movies can tear aside the veil between the haves and have-nots, and make the upper classes feel uncomfortable," the user wrote.
Translated by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Malcolm Foster.