“THE WOLF AT THE DOOR”：HOLLYWOOD AND THE FILM MARKET IN C(4)

　　Specific Political Interventions

　　In 1997Chinese authorities strongly objected to three American releases becauseof their alleged "anti-China bias".Although the three films -MGM's "Red Corner，"Sony/Columbia/TriStar's "Seven Years in Tibet ，"and Touchstone/Disney's "Kundun"-were never intended for distribution in China ，the release of these films inthe U.S.and other world markets was enough to produce a ban on the importationof any films from these studios.Bai Ling ，the lead actress in "Red Corner，"a film starring Richard Gere as an American businessman framed for a murder in Chinaand then subjected to the draconian Chinese legal system，came in for particularvilification in the Chinese press.Shanghai's Wenhui bao accused the graduate ofthe Xian Film Studio of betraying China "in order to get into A-rated films".（42）

　　To get these bans rescinded ，the studios had to convince the Chinese governmentof their "sincerity ，"often requiring ，among other things ，a high-level tripto China by a delegation headed by the company's CEO，as in the case of MGM，whichfinally had its ban rescinded late in 2000.The other two studios ，much more heavilyinvested in the China market，were successful in getting their bans lifted muchearlier.Disney in particular ，with its plans for China including theme parksand other large-scale ventures，and with "Mulan"to be released in 1998，undertookextensive damage-control efforts to get the ban rescinded.

　　On the eve of the release of Martin Scorsese's "Kundun，"a film about the earlyyears of the Dalai Lama ，Disney hired Henry Kissinger to help explain the company'srather awkward position to his Chinese friends.Disney's position was awkward inpart because both Warner Brothers and Universal ，also with substantial interestsin developing the China market had，despite Scorsese's reputation as perhaps theleading American film director，rejected the film.（43）Disney's efforts to returnto China's good graces culminated in a trip to Beijing in October 1997by CEO MichaelEisner in which he met with senior Chinese officials，including propaganda chiefDing Guan'gen.China has long criticized Hollywood for sending American culturalproducts to China while -at least in the view of Chinese officials -refusing todistribute and promote Chinese cultural products in the United States.Eisner pleasedhis hosts by agreeing to distribute two Chinese films in the U.S.and sponsoringa Chinese acrobatic troupe in Europe.In a letter to Disney shareholders on December8，Eisner described how impressed he was with the success of the ubiquitous McDonald'sin the China market ，noting that he was "completely confident that the Chinesepeople love Mickey no less than Big Mac".（44）Despite these efforts，the banon Disney films was not lifted until February 1999，at which point "Mulan"wasfinally released in China.

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