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"Barbie" lead actress Margot Robbie at a press event before the premiere: The film will not be shown in Vietnam
Photo: Lee Jin-man / dpa
Very few would have thought that this film, of all things, would cause political offense: In the Western world, the hype surrounding the "Barbie" film is hard to escape – but it will not be shown in Vietnam.
The reason: The film shows the so-called nine-dash line, with which China has been making claims to large parts of the South China Sea on maps for decades. However, other countries also claim territories there – such as Vietnam, the Philippines or Malaysia – which leads to political tensions.
Vietnam has already banned films several times for this reason
The ban on the film was decided by the National Film Rating Council, the newspaper "VNExpress" reported on Monday. Actually, »Barbie« with Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling in the lead roles was supposed to be released in cinemas on July 21 in the Southeast Asian country.
»Barbie« tells the story of the dolls Barbie and Ken, who are happy in the colorful and seemingly perfect world of Barbieland. But then they are transferred to the real world – which has many turbulent consequences. It is the first film adaptation with real actors. In Germany, »Barbie« can be seen from 20 July.
Vietnam has banned films several times in the past because they contained the "nine-dash line". Last year, the adventure action film »Uncharted« starring Tom Holland was withdrawn from the program. In 2021, eight episodes of the Netflix series "Pine Gap" were banned from screens.
ZOB/DPA