January 26, 2013 | Arts / Entertainment

China cuts sex scenes in 'Cloud Atlas'

Everyone knows that China likes to censor things, but it still took producers by surprise when their film, Cloud Atlas, was cut down by almost 30 minutes, with all the “gay and straight sex” removed.

The Chinese distributor, Dreams of Dragon Pictures, argued it had to remove scenes of sex and violence to get it released, and the company also wanted to tailor the film towards international markets. 

“We were unaware that our Chinese partners, Dreams of Dragon Pictures, had cut almost 30 minutes from the film,” the film’s producers, Grant Hill and Philip Lee, said in a statement. “We did know that, as with other countries, there were likely to be censorship trims and we trusted them to protect the integrity of the filmmaker’s creativity and vision.”

Lana Wachowski, who co-wrote and co-directed the film, said she had hoped that the film would challenge the attitudes of transphobic people. Wachowski came out as transgender last year, and said that one character in the film, a waitress who plans a revolution, reflected her own struggle with being transgender.

When asked about the cuts, she said: “It sucks really, but I believe you can watch the full version online."

Still, if you've seen the movie, maybe a few cuts aren't such a bad thing.