China and Britain refight Opium War on film

By Mure Dickie

BEIJING (Reuter) China and Britain refought their 19th century Opium War on
celluloid Monday as Beijing premiered a statebacked movie aimed at educating
a new generation in British villany and Chinese humiliation.

In a ceremony more akin to a Communist Party conference than a first night in
Hollywood, officials and selected school children joined to watch Britain
triumph over a decaying Qing dynasty (16441911) and steal sovereignty over
Hong Kong.

Officials hailed the ``The Opium War'' as a major event in China's film
history and a contribution to national efforts to mark the return of Hong
Kong to Beijing rule after 156 years of colonial control from London.

``Our film workers can make 'The Opium War' a special gift for the motherland
and people, to ensure we and our descendants through film forever remember
the humiliation the nation once suffered,'' said the film's director, Xie
Jin, in a speech.

Xie has compared the 184042 Opium War, which was triggered by Beijing's
attempts to stop Western imports of the narcotic, to Germany's massacre of
the Jews during World War II and China's own ultraleftist 196676 Cultural
Revolution.

While the director has said his movie is not propaganda, the presence at the
premier of Li Tieying, a member of the elite Politburo, and Foreign Minister
Qian Qichen was proof of approval from China's cultural commissars.

Soldiers selected to attend the showing sat to attention as British warships
shelled Qing forts weakened by centuries of isolationism although some of
the filmwatching troops slumped in their seats as the twoandahalfhour
epic wore on.

Western wickedness was given a bigscreen, fullcostume outing in the movie,
whose $12 million budget gave it cinematic options far beyond most
underfunded Chinese films.

Sexual encounters between British opium traders and officers and the winsome
Chinese heroine played by actress Gao Yuan were played for their imperialist
overtones, but the film also did not gloss over the capricious cruelty of the
Qing dynasty.

Nor were the British painted as uniformly malicious, pointed out 14yearold
schoolboy Wang Jin after the performance.

``Before the war they all voted, and there were also votes against,'' said
Wang, who attended along with his 'Opium War' Tshirtclad classmates from a
Beijing school.

The hero of the hour was Qing official Lin Zexu, who sparked the war by
destroying 3.0 million lbs. of Westernowned opium and flushing it into the
sea in 1839.

While Lin is now revered for his battle against the drug trade and his
resistence to Western power, an appalled Qing emperor rewarded his efforts
with internal exile.

Despite Lin's trials, the film showed him as having clear foresight of the
cost of appeasement and the need to abandon China's traditional disinterest
in barbarians from abroad.

``(The Westeners') clothing may look bad, but it does make movement easier,''
a robewearing Lin sighs as he heads into exile, concluding it was unwise to
belittle such nations.

While the premiere audience was at pains to pour praise on ``The Opium War,''
not all Chinese viewers were impressed.

``Technically, it's very bad,'' said one former filmmaker, who attended an
earlier test screening.

Unconcerned by such criticism, film mandarins have slated the film for
nationwide release ahead of the midnight June 30 Hong Kong handover.

Movie theaters are not the only place patriotic Chinese will be able to
refight the war the official ``Opium War'' computer game is scheduled to
hit the stores this month.