Tarantino refuses to edit ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’ for China

Filmmaker Quentin Tarantino will not be recutting his Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt-starrer Once Upon a Time in Hollywood to appease Chinese censors. According to a source, Tarantino is taking a take-it-or-leave-it stance in the wake of Chinese regulators pulling the film from the schedule a week before its release in the country, reports hollywoodreporter.com.

The film was scheduled to release in China on October 25. But the release of the acclaimed film has been put on hold indefinitely. Sony Pictures Entertainment didn't give any explanation for the delay. The decision to halt the release is speculated to be about Tarantino's portrayal of the late martial arts hero Bruce Lee, who was of Chinese descent.

Sources close to Beijing-based Bona Film Group, which is one of the investors in the film, and China's Film Bureau, state that Bruce Lee's daughter, Shannon Lee, made an appeal to China's National Film Administration, asking that it demand changes to her father's portrayal.

In fact, friends and family of the action star have also criticised Tarantino for his portrayal of Lee, saying it doesn't resemble the real-life man and is instead a caricature. But Tarantino, who has final-cut rights included in his contract, has no plans to edit his film, since China has not given any explanation about what is objectionable in the film, reports hollywoodreporter.com

The plot revolves around aging star Rick Dalton (DiCaprio) and his stunt double Cliff Booth (Pitt). In a parallel storyline, Margot Robbie portrays Dalton's neighbour Sharon Tate, who was murdered by members of the Charles Manson family.

Tarantino has described Once Upon a Time in Hollywood as his love letter to Los Angeles of 1969. The film also has Al Pacino, Dakota Fanning, Kurt Russell, Lena Dunham and the late Luke Perry in other roles.