In 1972, during Mao's Cultural Revolution, Michelangelo Antonioni was invited by the People's Republic of China to direct a documentary about New China. The result was a three-and-a-half-hour long film, divided into three parts. Mao disliked it so much that Michelangelo Antonioni was consequently charged with being anti-Chinese as well as counterrevolutionary. The movie was finally shown at Beijing's Cinema Institute 30 years later.
According to cinematographer Luciano Tovoli this documentary was shot mostly handheld with an 'Eclair NPR' 16mm camera using available light.
When the film was first shown on Italian TV, it was presented in black and white.A subsequent TV showing there seven years later allowed viewers to appreciate the role of color in Antonioni's images of China.
ITV showed the original 220 minute 3 part uncut version on consecutive Sunday Lunchtimes in Summer 1974. This broadcast was the first English Language presentation of the original uncut version. The 3 73 minute parts were shown in 90 minute slots including advertising breaks and was the first TV transmission of the uncut version in colour having been shown in Italy in Black & White the previous year. This came about through ITC co-funding the film.
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