Film crew to be fined for damaging environment (AFP) Updated: 2006-05-17 10:02
Related: Filmmaker destroys pristine
Shangrila Filming ban aims to protect scenic
areas Filming said to trash Shangari-La lake
China will fine
the crew of the country's most expensive movie, "The Promise" by Oscar-nominated
director Chen Kaige, for damaging the environment in an area of outstanding
natural beauty, state media said on Wednesday.
Chinese director Chen Kaige poses
during a photocall to present his competition film 'The Promise' at
the 56th Berlinale International Film Festival in Berlin February 12, 2006.
[Reuters] |
The producers neglected to carry out an environmental impact report and did
not apply for permission to build roads and buildings around Bigu Lake in the
southwestern province of Yunnan, the Beijing Youth Daily and other newspapers
reported.
Though most of the garbage at the site has now been cleaned up and some
buildings demolished, about 100 concrete pilings are still standing, the
newspaper said.
It will also take some time for marshland areas around the lake to recover,
it added. The paper did not say how much fine will be imposed on the film's
crew.
"China's current environmental protection laws are not yet perfected, and
there is a lack of standards or guidelines for fines for damaging the
environment," the newspaper quoted a government environmental watchdog official
as saying.
Producer and director Chen Kaige's wife, Chen Hong, has rejected the charges,
saying the crew had left "enough money" for the local government to deal with
the aftermath, according to state media reports last week.
The film, part love story, part kung fu epic, opened in Chinese theatres in
December and was nominated for a Golden Globe as "Master of the Crimson Armor,"
its US title.
Chen made his debut on the world stage with his 1993 hit "Farewell My
Concubine." "The Promise" is the most expensive film in Chinese history, with a
budget of US$35 million, and was China's official entry in the best foreign film
category at the Academy Awards in March.
The picture shows a
dilapidated wooden bridge that crosses the Bigu lake in Shangrila after
the shooting of "The Promise", in Southwest China's Yunnan Province. Early
this week, Vice-Minister of Construction Qiu Baoxing criticized the crew
that filmed "The Promise" for damaging the pristine environment at Bigu
Tianchi in Shangrila
County [Xinhua]
| But it opened to mixed reviews at home, with the China Daily calling it a
"lame movie with more dazzling special effects but a less convincing, less
interesting story."
|