The comedy “Bienvenue chez les Ch’tis”, broadcast this Sunday evening on TF1, should have been released in theaters in China. But the film was censored there for a very specific reason unveiled by Dany Boon in 2014.
Broadcast this Sunday evening on TF1, the cult comedy Bienvenue chez les Ch’tis, which attracted more than 20 million spectators in French theaters, should have been broadcast in China. But a very specific element of the film prevented its distribution in the Asian country.
“If the film was not released in China, it is because we did not pass the censorship, because I play an official who drinks alcohol”, explained Dany Boon at the microphone of French Film in January 2014. It must be said that the blood alcohol level of the characters is indeed high in the feature film, as evidenced by the cult scene of the postal tour shared with Kad Merad, a scene that the two actors, according to legend, would have shot really tipsy.
If Bienvenue chez les Ch’tis did not have the honors of a theatrical release in China, it will be recalled that the film had an Italian remake, called Benvenuti al Sud and released in theaters in 2001. It is the only remake of the film, after plans for a Chinese version were aborted, to be made by Liu Jie (The Last Voyage of Judge Feng), and an American version, called Welcome to the Sticks, which was to produce a certain Will Smith and which would have plunged Steve Carell into the black-American community.
Fans of Dany Boon will be able to discover his new feature film, 8 Rue de l’Humanité, from October 20 on Netflix. A comedy taking place in time … of confinement!
The trailer for “8 Rue de l’Humanité” :
