BEIJING - While the government has not launched a film rating system on the mainland, a cinema management company plans to provide suggestions for its viewers before they buy tickets.

Bona Star Cinema Management Company, a branch of Bona Films, a privately-owned film studio, distributor and exhibitor, says it will notify viewers of the content of the films screened in its theaters.

"Various types of films are available in Chinese theaters, and some contain violent, bloody and erotic scenes," notes the company's official account on Weibo, the Chinese equivalent to Twitter.

"These films may bring harm to a young audience. Theaters should be responsible enough to inform the viewers of the possible displeasure."

The company's general manager Huang Wei emphasized that it is just an effort to improve the theaters' services.

"We are not creating a film rating system," he said. "That is the business of the government."

What the company will do, he says, is add one or two lines on every film's promotion board in its theaters that provide a warning if the film may contain some content unsuitable for children or old people.

"Chinese cinemas are in fierce competition now, so we just want to provide better service," Huang says. "I have seen parents taking their little children, 4 or 5 years old, to see war films. I don't think those films are made for children that young."

The company will also warn parents of the possible damage of 3-D films to their children's eyes, Huang says.

He did not reveal the exact date when the service will start.

China's film industry has been prospering, with an annual box office growth of 30 percent since 2003, but the mainland has no film rating system yet. The State Council released a draft law on the film industry in December 2011, but it does not mention a rating system.

Ben Ji, a senior insider who has worked in both major Hollywood and Chinese studios for decades, applauded the company's efforts to improve its service but called for the establishment of a reliable rating standard.

"Viewers need to know what kind of films they are going to see. While the government has not provided a rating system, Bona Star is kind enough to make the move," he says.

"But in the long term, I believe we need a third party - either the government or an industry guild - which sets up a widely-accepted rating standard to protect both the audiences and the studios' interests. When every theater releases its own criteria for 'disturbing content', viewers and studios will get more confused."

China Daily

(China Daily 01/31/2012 page5)