Andrei Tarkovsky considered it a masterpiece and named it one of the 77 essential works of cinema.
Chung Kuo was well received in Italy, provoking discussion on "Antonioni's China" as well as screenings and airings in other countries. The film was also well-received when previewed by Chinese diplomats in Italy.
John J. O'Connor, writing in
The New York Times, compared
Chung Kuo (truncated to two hours for American television) favorably to the
NBC-produced special
The Forbidden City, commenting that the former "reaches a degree of sophistication that would appear to be beyond the capabilities or experience of most American television". A screening of the film at the 1974 Venice Film Festival was met with angry protests by Italian communists. A police cordon was created to protect the screening venue.
Chinese Communist Party leaders interpreted the film as
reactionary and anti-Chinese for showing what they considered to be the embarrassing blemishes of everyday life.A year after the initial broadcast, the ''
People's Daily published a scathing editorial titled A Vicious Motive, Despicable Tricks
(), denouncing the film and accusing Antonioni of creating "viciously distorted scenes" in order to "slander China’s Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution and insult the Chinese people". The editorial was followed by a mass anti-Antonioni campaign, with activities including televised denouncements, written criticisms from around the country, and schoolchildren being taught anti-Antonioni songs. The campaign was later attributed to the Gang of Four. Antonioni was rehabilitated by the People's Daily'' in 1979.
Chung Kuo was screened publicly for the first time in China in 2004 at the
Beijing Film Academy. The film is generally well-regarded by contemporary Chinese audiences for its depictions of a simpler time. ==References==