The end of the 1999 David Fincher film fight club has been modified in China.
The film starring Helena Bonham Carter, Brad Pitt and Edward Norton was recently made available on Chinese streaming platform Tencent Video.
fight club follows the story of a depressed man (Norton) suffering from insomnia, who meets a strange soap salesman named Tyler Durden (Pitt) and soon finds himself living in his squalid house after his perfect apartment is destroyed.
The two bored men form an underground club with strict rules and fight other men who are fed up with their social life. Their perfect partnership unravels when fellow support group member Marla (Carter) catches Tyler’s eye.
Viewers noticed that the film’s closing scene was changed due to the country’s restrictive censorship rules.
In the original, The Narrator (Norton), kills his imaginary alter ego Tyler, then watches several buildings explode, suggesting that his character’s plan to bring down modern civilization is underway.
However, in the Chinese version of the hit movie, The Narrator Kills Tyler, the explosion scene is replaced by a black screen with the caption: “The police quickly figured out the whole plan and arrested all the criminals, successfully preventing the bomb to explode. ”.
He also says that Tyler was sent to a “crazy system” for treatment.
This change sparked outrage from fans.
“This shit sucks,” wrote one fan. “Companies shouldn’t completely change the intent and purpose of movies just to sell in Chinese markets.”
Another person wrote: “The first rule of fight club in China? Do not mention the original ending. The second rule of fight club in China? Change it for the police to win.
It is not clear who is responsible for the change. The Independent has contacted Tencent Video for comment.
It’s not the first time that movie scenes have been changed in China.
In 2019, many scenes from the film Bohemian Rhapsody referencing Freddie Mercury’s sexuality were removed from its China release.
And in 2020, the China Independent Film Festival (CIFF) was “suspended indefinitely” following a crackdown on free speech under Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Many films from the festival, founded in 2003, tackled issues such as homosexuality and political history deemed sensitive or inappropriate by the Communist Party.
