Communists curse China director's sex and violence

BEIJING, Feb 8 (Reuters) China's top Communist Party training academy has slammed Oscar-nominated rpt Oscar-nominated director Zhang Yimou's latest film ''Curse of the Golden Flower'' as the latest in a line of bloodthirsty blockbusters smearing modern Chinese cinema.

A commentary in the ''Study Times'', the Chinese Communist Party School's official mouthpiece, complained that Chinese directors were deluding themselves that big-budget violent movies would lead to Academy Awards.

''Fine art is not built on money. Good movies are not based on banquets of glitzy scenes and effects, and less so when violence and sex are involved,'' the editorial said.

''Movies that move audiences and critics are the simple and eternal questions of life, the stories that that can truly inspire people, and which include some basic moral guidelines.'' The commentary said ''Curse'' -- which at 45 million dollars set a record as China's most expensive production -- had left a ''feeling of nausea that would not go away''.

''Some people even say that Zhang Yimou is just a painter, throwing buckets of red on the silver screen,'' it said.

''After watching 'Curse of the Golden Flower', this feeling of nausea just would not go away. In short, it's a bloodthirsty movie.'' ''Curse'' -- a Tang Dynasty costume drama derided by some Chinese critics for its violent content and skimpily attired actresses -- broke Zhang's own box office record in China for a home-made movie set by the 2002 epic, ''Hero'', and grossed 270 million yuan in 20 days after its release in December.

But some critics accuse China's film authorities of mobilising ''administrative resources'' to guarantee big box office takings for Zhang in the name of ''helping domestic movie industry'' and at the expense of talented, art-house directors.

Zhang won a best foreign film Oscar nomination for his 1991 film ''Raise the Red Lantern''. Once the bad boy of Chinese cinema whose films were banned on the mainland, Beijing's Olympic organisers have since recruited him to direct the opening and closing ceremonies at the 2008 Games.

The editorial adds to a growing chorus of concern in recent months from China's media censors and propaganda mandarins about violent and politically charged content in movies and television shows in a sensitive year for the Communist leadership.

Last month, China's broadcasting watchdog called for only ''ethically inspiring'' TV shows during prime-time in the run-up to the autumn's 17th Party Congress -- a five-yearly meeting of senior party officials where key leadership appointments will be rubber-stamped.

REUTERS MS KP1139