Blood and gore

Tarantino's movie Django Unchained was shut down on its opening day in China, yesterday.  The reason is not yet clear.  Some blame a brief scene of nudity.  Others blame Tarantino's signature blood and violence.

The New York Times notes that American movies opening in China are usually altered to tone down the violence.  Django Unchained's violence had already been altered, reportedly, "including altering the color of fake blood in violent scenes and limiting how far the blood spattered."

As an official for Sony Pictures commented:

What we call bloodshed and violence is just a means of serving the purpose of the film, and these slight adjustments will not affect the basic quality of the film -- such as turning the blood to a darker color or lowering the height of the splatter of blood.

News reports have focused on the issue of film censorship within China.  Censorship is indeed an issue.  To me, however, the more interesting question is how the quantity and velocity of blood splatter acts in "serving the purpose of the film."

To my memory, I've never seen a Tarantino film, and have no plans to see Django Unchained.  Tarantino is, of course, a serious and respected director.  Django Unchained received a respectable 89 percent on Rotten Tomatoes "Tomatometer."   Dissenting reviews, however, question the increasing repetitiveness of Tarantino's movie formulas.  "Tarantino's incoherent three-hour bloodbath" was the headline attached to a serious, in-depth, on-line review in Salon.

What's the objective of a serious movie, I like to ask myself, and how does each scene help realize that objective?  Violence, like sex, is "gratuitous" if it is unnecessary to the objective of the film.  I'm sure some people see a film primarily in the hope of seeing gratuitous sex and/or violence.  I don't.  Both distract attention from the movie as a serious experience.  And, to me, filmed violence, gratuitous or not, is simply an unpleasant viewing experience.

The Sony spokesman suggests that movies can be (and are) made less offensively bloody and violent for Chinese audiences.  I suggest that producers and directors consider releasing their less offensive versions in American theaters, as well.

A less violent Django Unchained still wouldn't suck me into my local theater, but there have been other films I would have been more inclined to attend if I hadn't realized that I'd have to spend an evening in the equivalent of the Roman Colosseum in order to view them.