Production
Production for So Close to Paradise began while Wang Xiaoshuai was officially blacklisted. While Wang participated in self-criticisms and networking opportunities in an effort to be allowed to make films again, he was invited to join Tian Zhuangzhuang's production company to begin work on the screenplay of So Close to Paradise, then called The Girl from Vietnam. During this period, the screenplay was vetted by both Beijing Film Studio executives and individual investors, who, while supportive of the film's portrayal of modern social reality, had some misgivings. This led to a shift in focus from the characters' sexual impulses to the general states of being. Wang had originally planned to begin shooting So Close to Paradise in June or July 1994 in Wuhan but was delayed until October due to continued bureaucracy problems between Wang and the state apparatus. As a result of the shift in season, filming of Paradise proved to be far more complicated in terms of logistics than Wang had initially anticipated. Combined with extensive edits to meet government censor approval and the production of the film stretched on for years.
While the film was financed with official backing (in contrast to Wang's earlier films), its release was nevertheless delayed and its content subject to substantial censorship by the state apparatus. Indeed it took nearly four years before the film was finally screened. Reasons for the problems have been speculated to revolve around both the film's gritty depiction of urban life, as well as the fact that a central character is Vietnamese. At one point, the Chinese Film Bureau (SARFT) argued that the film literally had a "funny smell," which Wang attributed to the censors' general distaste with the film's depressing tone and subject matter. When extensive edits to the film's "mood" failed to appease the censors, they eventually acquiesced and approved the film, in part because the process had dragged on so long.
Read more about this topic: So Close To Paradise
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