Mulan's Film Controversy In China Is Now Praise

Illustration of the film audience of Mulan in China (Photo: Antara)

JAKARTA - After receiving rejection, the live-action version of Mulan received praise after it was officially screened in Chinese cinemas. Praise came especially from China's foreign ministry.

The retelling of the story of the legendary Chinese female warrior received strong reactions even before its official release. The denial came when star Liu Yifei voiced his support for the Hong Kong police as they cracked down on democracy protests last year.

Last week Mulan's film faced calls for a global boycott for filming in Xinjiang where rights violations against the region's Muslim population have been widely documented. Then Disney also thanked several Chinese governments, including the Xinjiang region.

Launching Antara on Monday, September 14, China's foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian on Friday brushed off the controversy, saying it was "perfectly normal" to thank the Xinjiang government for their help and ignore criticism from "some rights organizations. human."

Zhao Lijian also praised Liu Yifei's abilities as a "contemporary Mulan" and called her a "true Chinese child".

Mulan opened in China on Friday and sold about 41 million yuan or US $ 5.99 million tickets in the afternoon, according to the Maoyan ticketing platform.

However, the film, which many have seen online first, attracted a lot of bad reviews and a rating of 4.7 out of 10 on the popular user review site Douban.

Some disliked it because the story was different from the original 1998 animated classic. Others criticized Mulan's action scenes.

"In my mind, Mulan started out as graceful and not a martial artist as a child," wrote one user.

Another reviewer added, "The story line is very bad and complex, the hero Mulan is highlighted without logic. The martial arts sequence is also weak."

Others questioned why there weren't more Chinese staff working on the film.

Amid the furor, Mulan's hashtag appears to have been deactivated on China's Twitter-like Weibo, with the tag not appearing in search results on Friday.

However, viewers in Beijing seem oblivious to the international protests about the film, which costs up to US $ 200 million.

"Mulan is a name that is like a house. Different people may have different ways of understanding this story. This time, I think they succeeded," said Hu Xia, 46, who watched the film with her son.

Another moviegoer, 30-year-old Alvin Ye, praised the film for portraying an extraordinary woman.