Few directors in Hollywood have more power than Martin Scorsese, the Oscar-winning director of box office hits such as “Goodfellas,” “Casino,” “The Departed,” and “The Wolf of Wall Street.”
But even the legendary filmmaker lacked the clout to save the fate of his movie “Kundun” (1997) when the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) came knocking on Disney’s door.
The film is probably one that most readers have never heard of, even though it was nominated for four Academy Awards and included the legendary Mr. Scorsese. A historical drama written by Melissa Mathison, “Kundun” explores the life of the young Dalai Lama, who in 1950 saw his homeland of Tibet invaded by the CCP.
Ms. Mathison conceived the project after meeting the Dalai Lama in 1990, and although she had concerns that Hollywood wouldn’t be interested in such a film, she caught a break when she convinced Mr. Scorsese to direct the film.
“I’m not saying he wants to do it, but I know he’s going to get it,” Ms. Mathison recalled thinking. “I knew he’d understand the society, the moral code, the journey, and the spirituality of it,” she said in the documentary “In Search of Kundun with Martin Scorsese.”
Disney eventually agreed to distribute the film, which was given a $28 million budget. But China had other ideas.
Tibet, along with Taiwan and Tiananmen, is among the forbidden Three Ts—the issues considered most contentious by the CCP. So with China becoming an emerging global power in the 1990s, the CCP decided to flex its muscle and attempted to nix the project.
Two days into the production of “Kundun” in 1996, a representative from the Chinese Embassy approached Disney’s chief strategic officer, Lawrence Murphy.
“You started shooting a film in Morocco about the Dalai Lama called ‘Kundun,’” the diplomat said before explaining that Beijing had concerns with the film’s subject matter.
‘Play by China’s Rules’ … or Else
At the time, Mr. Murphy hadn’t even heard of the film. But it would soon become clear that the CCP wanted the shooting of “Kundun” shut down. Why Beijing would want the movie censored is obvious. “Kundun” describes atrocities that China’s communist regime committed in the 1950s following its invasion of the Himalayan country.
