JET LI - JET LI BEMOANS CHINESE CENSORS

JET LI BEMOANS CHINESE CENSORS

Action and martial arts actor Jet Li has revealed his dismay at Chinese censors banning his Hollywood movies.

Writing on his website, the star said that one his films, Romeo Must Die, was not shown in China because it featured gangsters.

"Gangsters aren't appropriate," Li wrote. "Personally, I felt that films don't always have to be realistic. In films there are many unrealistic things. Movies depicting true real-life situations aren't in high quantity."

The actor has been in a number of Hollywood films, often playing Asian police officers or gangsters in action movies.

He also continues to play Chinese language roles, such as the Oscar-nominated Hero, which depict older Chinese stories rather than contemporary action movies.

Li added: "Many foreign filmmakers have asked how to produce an action film that is acceptable in China.

"Typically action films have good and bad characters. If gangsters aren't appropriate and police officers aren't appropriate, then what type of character can there be that wouldn't start an argument?"

Only about 20 foreign films are given permission to be screened in China each year and often censors request that scenes are edited or even removed.