Tarantino refuses to recut movie for Chinese market

Quentin Tarantino is refusing to alter his latest movie for the Chinese market, according to reports.

It follows criticism of Once Upon A Time In Hollywood from Bruce Lee’s daughter Shannon, who has complained about how her father, who was of Chinese descent, is portrayed.

Ms Lee said in August that she found it “disheartening” to see her father played on screen as “an arrogant a****** who was full of hot air”.

She has now apparently appealed to China’s National Film Administration, asking that it demand changes to the way her father is depicted.

In one scene, a cocky Lee gets into a best-of-three fight with Brad Pitt’s character, a stuntman named Cliff Booth, after the pair fire insults at each other.

Lee is seen to win the first round, but is slammed into a vehicle in the second. The third never gets under way.

Tarantino has stood by the portrayal. “Bruce Lee was kind of an arrogant guy,” the filmmaker said while publicising the movie.

“I didn’t just make a lot of that up. I heard him say things like that, to that effect.

“People are saying ‘Well, he never said he could beat up Muhammad Ali.’ Uh, yeah, he did. Not only did he say that, his wife, Linda Lee, said that.

“The first biography I ever read was Linda Lee’s Bruce Lee: The Man Only I Knew, and she absolutely said it.”

The film’s release in China – due on 25 October – has been put on hold indefinitely.

Starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt, it could be a big hit in the country, where DiCaprio is a major star thanks to his role in Titanic.

But Tarantino is refusing to re-edit the film, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

He is said to have final cut rights in his contract and China has not apparently offered any explanation of its objections.

Many movies have been re-edited for the Chinese market, including the Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody, from which references to Freddie Mercury’s sexual orientation were removed.