Media backs China's first sex comedy film after approval for distribution by censors

Beijing -  A film branded as China's first sex comedy has won a surprising approval for distribution from the country's official media.

The film, titled 'Red Light Revolution', is about an unemployed Beijing man who opens a sex shop after his money-mad wife walks out on him.

The film had no chance of being screened in Chinese cinemas, but censors gave it a cautious approval for distribution through a popular video-sharing website, Tudou.com, the Gulf News  reports.

It has even been welcomed by the Global Times, a newspaper controlled by the People's Daily, which specialises in shrill patriotism and the defence of Chinese values against 'western  decadence'.

The paper even quoted a speech by the film's hero, Shunzi, 'Sex. Shagging. Making love. Whatever you want to call it, everyone does it. But nobody does it more than us Chinese. Why?  Because there are 1.3 billion of us."

According to the paper, The China Daily in its report also supported the film and noted that '70 per cent of the world's sex toys are made in China, there are 10,000 companies involved in making them, and billions of condoms are sold in the country every year.'

The Global Times quoted Li Zhong, a critic, as saying the film was a 'gentle and conservative exploration of modern society'.

The comedy was made in 2010 by Australian director Sam Voutas and producer Melanie Ansley, working with the Chinese film-maker Wang Yifan.

The film took two years to reach a legitimate Chinese audience.