BEIJING -- A political advisor on Wednesday lambasted director Zhang Yimou's blockbuster movie "Curse of the Golden Flower" for plagiarism.

Wei Minglun, chairman of the Chinese Theater Literature Association, said Zhang's "Curse" was based on a Chinese classic drama "Thunderstorm" but the production team neither mentioned the adaptation in the trailer nor showed gratitude words on the screen after the movie.

"The movie is apparently a plagiarism," said Wei, a member of the Tenth National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the country's top advisory body.

"Although the producers mentioned the adaptation on some publicity occasions, they never gave the original work formal status in the movie," Wei said on the sidelines of the ongoing annual session of the CPPCC.

"Thunderstorm" by Cao Yu, one of the most remarkable modern Chinese dramatists in the 20th century, has enjoyed a big fame and been adapted to TV dramas and modern plays for many times, but never like this time when the masterpiece story was borrowed completely in such a casual manner. Wei said.

Cao passed away ten years ago. According to China's Copyright Law, the legal protection of the right to release, use and attain reward from a piece of literature can extend 50 years after the author's death, Wei said, adding Chinese awareness for copyright protection is still low as "few people openly criticize the film."