What It’s Like To Act For Lars Von Trier

Paul Bettany: “As an actor, I have questions. I want to know what I’m doing. And he simply wouldn’t talk to me. You’re not allowed to talk about the film and there is no rehearsal. … He just stands there and says [mimics Danish accent]: ‘Louder! Louder! Do it louder!’ That’s the extent of your collaboration. You know what it’s like? It’s like he’s Jackson Pollock and you’re on the sidelines, mixing his colours.”

Be Nice To China: Hollywood Takes Care Not To Offend A Billion-Person Market

“If your movie features a Chinese villain, change his nationality. If your plot omits a scene in China, insert one – preferably with gleaming skyscrapers. … If Beijing’s censors dislike certain scenes, cut them. Kow-towing to China has become a reflex for actors, writers, producers, directors and studio executives in pursuit of the world’s second-biggest box office.”

Forty Years After Their First China Tour, Philadelphia Orchestra Sees Massive Change

Nine musicians on the Philadelphians’ current tour were also there for the band’s visit to the People’s Republic in 1973, the first by any U.S. symphonic ensemble. They tell David Patrick Stearns their memories of a China without skyscrapers, Madame Mao ordering a last-minute change in the program, and the Chairman’s fly-swatting quota.