David Fincher’s cult film Fight Club, whose truncated ending in China has aroused the amazement of moviegoers in recent weeks, is now broadcast in the country in its original version. The communist power only authorizes the broadcasting of a handful of foreign films each year and the censors do not hesitate to remove the scenes considered disturbing or subversive. But Fight Club, with Brad Pitt and Edward Norton, had completely made the subject of a rewrite of its final scene, more than two decades after the release of the American film in 1999. Last month, moviegoers were moved that the version broadcast on the Tencent Video platform is at the antipodes of the work original.In the film, the narrator played by Edward Norton kills his imaginary alter ego played by Brad Pitt, then witnesses the explosion of skyscrapers – the destruction of the modern world, dreamed by the hero. The version originally aired in China ended just before with a black screen and text saying, “Police foiled the plan and arrested all criminals, preventing the bombs from exploding.” The text specified that the character played by Brad Pitt had been interned in “an insane asylum”. Tencent did not comment on the restoration of the original version. It was unclear whether the changes were imposed by the authorities. Hollywood studios sometimes take it upon themselves and cut certain scenes from films in the hope of obtaining clearance for the Chinese market.
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