Martin Scorsese - The Departed Banned In China?

MARTIN SCORSESE's latest movie THE DEPARTED has reportedly been rejected by censors in China because one scene references a Chinese plot to purchase military equipment. Scorsese won the Best Director Golden Globe for the crime film on Monday (15JAN07), but it now looks unlikely the movie, which has an all-star cast including JACK NICHOLSON, LEONARDO DiCAPRIO and MATT DAMON, will secure a release in China. A government source tells Reuters, "There is no chance The Departed will be shown in mainland cinemas because the US side declined to change a plot line describing how Beijing wanted to buy advanced military computer hardware. "That part of the plot is definitely unnecessary. The regulators just cannot understand why the movie wanted to involve China. They can talk about Iran or Iraq or whatever, but there's no reason to get China in."