Chinese Internet surfers hurled criticism at Chinese director Chen Kaige, saying his rebuke of Internet prankster Hu Ge does not match his reputation.

 

Hu, an Internet short movie maker, become popular by creating a Web movie titled A murder sparked by a Chinese bun, which reconstructed a story based on Chen Kaige's latest movie The Promise.

 

"I think humans being could never be that cheeky," Chen was quoted by last Wednesday's the Beijing News as saying, in an interview when attending the Berlin Film Festival last week.

 

However, his displeasure with Hu and claim of seeking legal protection has triggered a debate on the Internet.

 

"As an internationally acclaimed director, Chen should not be that narrow-minded," one Internet user said.

 

Even Chen's former wife Hong Huang published a jeer on her blog, "He is too petty-minded to tolerate a little bun," she wrote.

 

Hu has since apologized to Chen, explaining that he just wanted to entertain others and did not mean to hurt anybody.

 

Among China's top 50 hot topics at Chinese search engine Baidu.com, the A murder sparked by a Chinese bun ranked 24th, leaving The Promise far behind.

 

"We do appreciate Hu's offhand creation, which has harvested an influence its counterpart failed to compete," a Net user nicknamed Mu Tu said at the Chinese web portal Sohu.com.

 

"The dispute indicates a fight between the mainstream and the margin, represented by the traditional culture and Internet culture, respectively," said Gu Jun, a professor with Shanghai University, implying that Chen's attitude embodies the traditional culture of seriousness.

 

As far as law is concerned, a lawyer in a Shanghai-based law office Sun Wei said that Hu might be guilty of "unreasonably utilizing other's intellectual property" according to China's law.

 

"I have 50 percent confidence to win the suit, unlike the previous hundred percent, as I did not assume he (Chen) was so serious," Hu said at his blog.

 

Chen made The Promise in 1,090 days, trekking for nearly 10,120 kilometers, at a cost of 280 million yuan (about US$35 million), so far the most expensive film in Chinese cinematic history.

 

So far, no legal activity has been carried out.

 

(Xinhua News Agency February 20, 2006)