China has changed the ending of the cult classic film Fight Club to one where the authorities win. The country has some of the world’s most restrictive censorship rules, with foreign films often suffering major cuts – if allowed to be shown at all.
One of the latest movies to undergo that treatment is David Fincher’s hugely successful Fight Club, starring Edward Norton, Brad Pitt and Helena Bonham Carter.
Film fans in China noticed over the weekend that a version of the 1999 movie available on streaming platform Tencent Video was given a makeover that transforms the anarchist, anti-capitalist message that made the film a global hit.
In the closing scenes of the original cut, Norton's character – The Narrator – kills off his imaginary alter ego Tyler Durden – played by Pitt – and then watches multiple buildings explode, suggesting that his character's plan to bring down modern civilisation was underway.But the new version in China has a very different take, with the exploding building scene being replaced with a black screen and some text which read: "The police rapidly figured out the whole plan and arrested all criminals, successfully preventing the bomb from exploding." It then adds that Tyler was sent to a "lunatic asylum" for psychological treatment and was later discharged. To stay up to date with all the latest news, make sure you sign up to one of our newsletters here. The edited ending in which the government triumphs sparked outrage among many Chinese viewers, many of whom would likely have seen pirated versions of the original film.
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