The video above is a rehearsal for the Opening Ceremony of the upcoming Summer Olympics in Beijing, which was filmed by a South Korean TV station and leaked to the web. Which, apparently, has made Chinese Olympic officials furious. It's been taken down from YouTube and other sites, but still available -- for now! -- on Dailymotion, whose copy we've linked to here.
The ceremony, directed by filmmaker Zhang Yimou, reportedly cost $300 million to put together and features 10,000 performers. The preview clip is pretty incredible, complete with whales, floating dancers and multiple martial artists. It's also -- let's say it -- just a little bit scary in the way it presents artistic movement with such perfect military precision
Of course, we have no idea if watching this video online counts as a vote for Internet freedom, or will just convince the Chinese government to crack down on web access even further. (As for NBC, they probably see it as the best viral promotion ever.) The actual ceremony will air a week from today at 8 p.m. -- and we know we'll be watching.
Previously:
The Summer Olympics: You Can Run, But You Can't Hide