Feng Xiaogang (冯小刚) is probably the most commercially successful Chinese film director of the past decade. He's known in China for films such as romantic comedy If You are the One (非常勿扰) featuring actress Shu Qi (舒淇) as well as more serious historic dramas such as Aftershock (about the 1976 Tangshan earthquake) and Back to 1942 (about a major famine during war with Japan).
Recently, Feng was honored as Director of the Year by the Chinese Film Director's Guild. During his acceptance speech, Feng took the opportunity to speak out against film censorship by China's State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT). Ironically, the Chinese word for censorship was censored out of the TV broadcast.
Feng's censored speech (censored part at a bit over 3 minutes)
Feng has criticized the Chinese government's censorship previously and although he may believe he can get away with doing so since he's immensely famous and popular in China, it still takes some courage. Some of China's most famous and successful directors have had their films banned and been prevented from working in the past, including Zhang Yimou.
A translation of Feng's speech includes the following: "A lot of times when you receive the order [from the censors], its so ridiculous that you don't know whether to laugh or cry, especially when you know something is good and you're forced to change it into something bad. Are Hollywood directors tormented the same way?"
A few other Chinese directors have also criticized China's film censorship system, often objecting that its virtually impossible to know what will be censored any why. While there are certain topics that directors should know are clearly forbidden such Tibetan or Taiwanese independence or any direct criticism of the Chinese Communist Party, there are apparently no clear rules that SARFT follows in making individual censorship decisions and SARFT generally does not give any reason for its decisions. The Chinese government has recently decided to merge SARFT with the General Administration for Press and Publications although its unknown whether this will have any affect on censorship policies.
While Chinese films can be difficult for Westerners to appreciate (even with English subtitles) due largely to cultural differences, I've enjoyed all of Feng Xiaogang's films that I've seen. My favorite is one of his lesser-known ones, Big Shot's Funeral (大碗), which stars American actor Donald Sutherland as well as Chinese actor Ge You (who's in almost all of Feng's films). I found it hilarious for its satiric portrayal of modern Chinese society and Hollywood.
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