More On The Movies Most of You Won’t Get to See
They call it the kiss of death, because the NC-17 rating can literally kill a movie. And it’s not just because less people are willing to see explicit films.
The real problem is that major theater chains won’t carry NC-17 films, and mainstream media won’t advertise them. So if a film get an NC-17, it’s very hard to let people know it even exists. Most films can’t afford to stand their ground; the financial loss that accompanies an NC-17 rating is simply too great. This means directors are forced to change their film in the hopes that they will be able to get an R rating. They will cut scenes, change plot points, even do reshoots. You might think we’re talking about a few “fringe” directors creating “hardcore” films that are forced to change their work. Here is a partial list of directors who have edited their films to get an R.
Pedro Almodovar, Mary Harron, Troy Duffy, Spike Lee, Francis Ford Coppola, David Cronenberg, Kevin Smith, Tony Scott, Renny Harlin, Paul Verhoeven, The Hughes Brothers, John Waters, Stanley Kubrick, Tom Green, Robert Rodriguez, Alexandre Aja, Quentin Tarantino, Roger Avary, Bernardo Bertolucci, Marc Forster, Matt Stone and Trey Parker, Wes Craven, Keenan Ivory Wayans, Oliver Stone, and Kimberly Peirce.
Some of the films that were changed to save the rating include: American Pie, American Psycho, Bad Education, Basic Instinct, Bent, Boondock Saints, Boys Don’t Cry, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Cliffhanger, Color of Night, The Cooler, Crash, Dead Presidents, Desperado, A Dirty Shame, The Dreamers, Eyes Wide Shut, Freddie Got Fingered, The Getaway, Godfather III, Grindhouse, Happiness, Hostel II, The Hills Have Eyes, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, Kill Bill Vol. 1, Killing Zoe, Last Tango in Paris, Man Bites Dog, Monsters Ball, Natural Born Killers, Orgazmo, Pulp Fiction, Requiem for a Dream, Romper Stomper, The Rules of Attraction, Saw (1-3), Scream, Scary Movie 2, Silver, South Park: Bigger, Longer, Uncut, Summer of Sam, Team America, True Romance, Zack and Miri Make a Porno.
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Sounds simple right? Change your movie, and it’s all good, right? Not really. Aside from the obvious problems with asking some of our greatest directors to compromise their art, changing the film isn’t always easy. The board that makes these decisions is an anonymous, secretive group. And sometimes they give reasons for their rating, and sometimes they don’t. Many times, the objectional content isn’t any different from content in films that got R ratings. Director Kirby Dick took a look at this complicated, secretive, arbitrary system in the outstanding documentary “This Film is not Yet Rated.” Check out these clips from the doc and then see the entire film.
For a Great List of NC-17 rated films check out nc17movie.com.
But as we’ve mentioned in a prior article, there’s a bold new film out now that has refused to change the content of the film. “Shame” directed by Steve McQueen refused to budge and has been released this weekend. The good news is, you get to see the film, uncensored, and as the director intended it to be seen– if you can find a theater near you that will show it. The best way to fight this, is to show mainstream media that you are interested in seeing films with explicit content. It’s really important that you go see Shame when it opens near you. And it’ s a terrific movie. Once again, here is the trailer, followed by our review:
Shame stars Michael Fassenberger as Brandon, a 30-something based in New York City. He’s good-looking, a fine sense of culture, a great job, money and a killer apartment in Lower Manhattan. Its no wonder that he has his fair share of women. But Brandon’s also hiding a sexual addiction – and intense emotional detachment – in plain sight. He spends his evenings indulging in one night stands, hookers, adult webcams and porn. The cracks in his life become compounded when his equally emotionally damaged sister (Carey Mulligan) arrives out of the blue at his apartment and moves in. Her arrival – and all of the baggage (literal and otherwise) that comes with it – opens up long locked up demons and sends his life spinning out of control.
The leads pull off extraordinary performances. Fassenberger has the difficult part of a playing this intensively fractured person yet giving off the appearance that he’s this whole being and he plays it masterfully. The scenes where Brandon attempts a real relationship with a co-worker are heartbreaking. Fassenberger is able to show where breakthrough and breakdown collide and while its not pretty, it certainly is real. It’s a fearless, uncompromising effort that should be rewarded bountifully at awards season. Mulligan’s been drawing comparisons to Kate Winslet and for good reason: She’s incredible as Brandon’s sister Sissy. Whereas Brandon is able to suppress his emotions through his sexual encounters, Sissy is all emotion, desperately trying to make any real human connection. Fassenberger lights up the screen but its Mulligan who provides the fuse. Their scenes together are as good as its get.
Director Steve McQueen handles the very delicate material with an emotional bluntness that has been absent in cinema for quite awhile. At times, there’s almost a documentary feel to it, at other times, there’s almost a dream-like aspect to it. Much as been made about the use of full frontal nudity and sex scenes, but they are not used to titilate or arouse, just to show the emptiness of the encounter and the character. There’s nothing sexy about it, which is precisely what McQueen is saying about sexual addiction. We’re looking at the makings of the next great film director.
Shame is screening now at select theaters in a few major cities. Get more information on where the film is screening at @ShameFilm. Don’t let the NC-17 stigma scare you – please go out and support films made by and for adults. It’s deserves and needs to be seen.
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