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Lifting the lid on the world of cinema censorship, this programme has unique access to the files of the British Board of Film Classification. Featuring explicit and detailed exchanges between the censor and film-makers, 'Dear Censor' casts a wry eye over some of the most infamous cases in the history of the board.
From the now seemingly innocuous Rebel Without a Cause, the first 'naturist' films and the infamous works of Ken Russell, and up to Rambo III, this frank and surprisingly warm documentary demonstrates how a body created by the industry to safeguard standards and reflect shifts in public opinion has also worked unexpectedly closely with the film-makers themselves to ensure that their work was able reach an audience.
From the now seemingly innocuous Rebel Without a Cause, the first 'naturist' films and the infamous works of Ken Russell, and up to Rambo III, this frank and surprisingly warm documentary demonstrates how a body created by the industry to safeguard standards and reflect shifts in public opinion has also worked unexpectedly closely with the film-makers themselves to ensure that their work was able reach an audience.
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00:00O que é o cinema?
00:30O que é o cinema?
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05:21Don't push anybody.
05:24That was a bit of a shock, I think, probably, in early 50s England,
05:28where you didn't mock figures of authority in that way.
05:31That was thought to be sort of surly, bolshy behaviour.
05:36Note from examiners.
05:38Brando is certainly an accessory to larceny, malicious damage to property,
05:43false imprisonment, assault and battery, insulting behaviour and reckless driving.
05:48And the problem with the film for the censors
05:50wasn't that there was some scene of outrageous violence in it.
05:54It was more to do with the kind of sneer of contempt
05:58that the film expresses in every frame towards adult authority.
06:03Brando is attractive, admirable, imitable.
06:07You've got a lot of anxiety about young people in this country.
06:11The way he walks down the street
06:14Watch the way he shuffles his feet
06:18The Teddy Boys were quite tough people to deal with.
06:22You know, they carried their chivvies, their little razors,
06:24and fights between razor gangs in London.
06:29It was not undocumented.
06:30He's a rebel and he'll never have a really good
06:34He's a rebel because he never does what he should do
06:39But once the trouble was on the way
06:42I was just going with it
06:43Brando says in the dialogue
06:45This is precisely the psychology of the Teddy Boys
06:49It was banned outright in 1953
06:53And when you see it today, you can't imagine why
06:57I mean, these juvenile delinquents are all played by sort of middle-aged men
07:01which is rather far-fetched
07:03They just don't seem like delinquents at all
07:05Don't do that
07:10Dear sirs, we regret we are unable to issue a certificate
07:21for this spectacle of unbridled hooliganism
07:24The film company are desperate to get it passed with cuts
07:29Dear Arthur, have you any suggestions at all
07:33that could be the means of changing the board's present decision?
07:37It is terrible that a costly picture will have to be placed on the shelf
07:41without a penny worth of revenue accruing from this territory
07:45Dear Max, our concern about this film is related to the subject as a whole
07:53That is, the basic story, the beginning, middle and end
07:57My dear Arthur Watkins
08:00What our film portrays is a matter that could not happen in England
08:04The distributor brought the film back to the board again and again and again
08:10My dear Arthur Watkins
08:13While in your fascinating city, I do wish to mix some business
08:16with whatever pleasure visits to London do provide
08:19This includes a respectful petition
08:22that you once again view the wild one
08:25I am glad to hear you are shortly coming to London
08:28But I do not think there can be any question at this stage
08:32of our reopening the subject
08:33We take no pleasure whatever in cutting or banning films
08:42And there is no truth in the cartoon which depicted our president and his colleagues
08:47outside this data
08:49and the president saying
08:51Gentlemen, let's see it through once again and then ban it
08:55The ban stuck until 1967
08:58By which point it had become this rather innocuous
09:01rather archaic object
09:03A little message from the past
09:05The film that came along after the wild one
09:12that sort of tested it
09:13was Rebel Without a Cause
09:14which was obviously was the must-see film of 1955
09:19You're tearing me apart
09:22What?
09:23You say one thing, he says another
09:25and everybody changes back again
09:27That's a fine way to behave
09:29Well, you know who he takes after
09:31Notes on Rebel Without a Cause
09:36It is another story involving delinquency
09:38This time with the accent on the sins of neglectful and quarrelling parents
09:43When Rebel Without a Cause was submitted to the BBFC
09:48the distributor was very keen to obtain an A classification rather than an X
09:53Obviously because the X certificate at the time
09:57not only limited the audience
09:58but limited the number of cinema chains that were prepared to show the film
10:02We have given the most careful consideration
10:05to the request about re-grading Rebel Without a Cause
10:08in the A category
10:09The main obstacle is the behaviour of the parents in the film
10:13It's in fact James Dean's rather caricatured dad
10:18This sort of effeminate figure played by Jim Backus, Mr Magoo
10:21who you see wearing an apron and being henpecked or whatever
10:25and it sort of suggested that if he were more of a man
10:28then James Dean wouldn't be such a screw-up
10:31Dad
10:35Dad
10:42Dad
10:48Stan
10:49Don't
10:50I mean you should
10:52Don't
10:53What are you
10:56Children even accompanied should not be allowed to witness the spectacle of ridiculous and ineffectual parents
11:09You know for the director Nicholas Ray this was the whole point of the film
11:14The weakness of these authority figures
11:16Dear Arthur
11:18I have considered the cuts you suggest we make in order to gain an A certificate
11:22But I feel they would reduce the film to nonsense
11:26Rebel Without a Cause was seen by us on the 14th of October 1955
11:33And after considerable deliberation amongst ourselves passed in the X category
11:48John Trevelyan was this wonderful scholarly lined face
11:51He looked like the headmaster of Eton
11:53And he could go on television
11:55And defend his decisions
11:57And he's washed away all opposition
12:00Mary Whitehouse everybody
12:01They look silly compared to him
12:03Because he looked like the brain of Britain
12:05John gave the same impression
12:07Of a very senior citizen
12:10Who knew what he was talking about
12:12And when John sat there holding his hand up with his cigarette
12:16You really believed what he was saying
12:18We have no rules
12:20Which I think is important
12:22I think it's the only way to do it
12:24See if you have your rules
12:26You've either got to stick to them
12:28Right through
12:29Or you've got to interpret them
12:30And I think either's are foolish
12:32So therefore we try to assess what we believe are public attitudes
12:38At any one time
12:39And to work on those
12:40The Garden of Eden was an American naturism film
12:50That arrived at the board in 1955
12:53At the time the board had a pretty strict policy on nudity
12:56Note from examiners
13:02I think the Garden of Eden
13:04Would produce very noisy reactions
13:06At tough cinemas like The Elephant
13:08There are some unconsciously funny nudes
13:12Especially one young lady
13:14With peculiar gluteal muscles
13:18The question of precedent
13:20Must be the overriding one here
13:22The British Board of Film Censors
13:24Couldn't actually legally oblige a film to disappear
13:28This was just advice for councils
13:31When they were handing out permits
13:33And it produces odd anomalies
13:35So that the board could disapprove
13:37But the council could pass it
13:39So at first the board decided to resist
13:42The march of the nudists
13:44But this was something that they couldn't get local councils
13:48To agree with
13:50And so councils allowed these films to be shown
13:53Against the advice of the BBFC
13:55Which made them seem very kind of old fashioned
13:57Very sort of out of touch
14:03So in 1958 John Trevelyan
14:05A man really of deeply liberal instincts
14:08Who can see that this is a preposterous situation
14:11That is making them look utterly foolish
14:14This film was recently reconsidered by this board
14:19And it was decided to rescind the previous decision
14:22And to pass the film with an A certificate
14:25John Trevelyan, secretary
14:27I think Trevelyan revoked the ban on Garden of Eden
14:34With a certain degree of reluctance
14:36This was probably because he felt that this was the beginning of a slippery slope
14:42Other filmmakers with perhaps even less reputable intentions
14:47Would try to jump on the bandwagon
14:49All the cheap distributors
14:51And I was working for them at the time
14:53Said this is it, we can make a fortune
14:56We'll make a film with nudists in
14:57They had to be nudists
14:58So my people rang me up
15:00They said two or three weeks time
15:01We're starting a nudist film
15:03Where is it? You write it
15:04So I wrote this ludicrous film called Some Like It Cool
15:10Who are you writing to?
15:11Mum and Dad
15:12I bet they haven't recovered from your last letter
15:14We haven't dated
15:15My darling girl
15:16Please mother, don't make a scene
15:18Don't make a scene, she says
15:19Put yourselves in our place
15:21Have a cup of tea
15:22Tea at a time like this?
15:24Well, it is tea time
15:26The film was officially sold to the BBFC
15:30As an educational work of some sort
15:34But of course the board knew that it was nothing of the sort
15:37And that it was an excuse to show breasts and buttocks
15:41Cost £9,000
15:43It made its budget back the first week
15:46Unheard of in the history of cinema
15:48And strangely enough
15:50Although it was a rubbish film
15:52It greatly impressed people in Wardle Street
15:55Which was then the movie capital of London
15:57And they said, my God
15:58When it's made a film for £9,000
16:00It's making £200,000
16:02We're not getting results like this with our films
16:04With people with clothes on
16:06The horse had very much bolted
16:09After Garden of Eden
16:11And the board simply had to concede
16:13That it had lost the argument on nudity
16:15Well, everybody's heard about the bird
16:18The bird, the bird, the bird
16:20I believe that John Trevelyan created the sexual revolution
16:24Suddenly, nudity and pubic hair could be shown
16:29A bird is a bird, a bird, a bird, a bird, a bird, a bird, a bird
16:34Trevelyan wasn't a man who stood aloof from the film business
16:37There were lots of pictures of him hanging out with Andy Warhol
16:41And people like that
16:42He was a member of a cinema club in Soho
16:45That showed uncertificated films
16:47When he came back from a very good lunch at a local restaurant
16:53He would say to us, who's fucking who today?
16:56Which went down very well
17:00You loved the idea of being the guy who would go through Soho
17:06And everyone knew who he was
17:07Because in a way, he was the person who was keeping everyone's house in order
17:11So throughout the 60s, Trevelyan is overseeing this process of liberalisation
17:18And permitting more and more as the decade progresses
17:22So that in 1967 you get the first use of the word fuck in the film of Ulysses
17:28You then in the same year get full frontal female nudity in Blow Up and in Hugs and Kisses
17:36And then in 1969 you get full frontal male nudity
17:40I mean, historically much more problematic
17:42But there it is in Ken Russell's film
17:44Under that candlelight on that Axminster carpet
17:47That's good
18:04We've got two pretty big stars and very hip stars at the time as well
18:08Full frontal nudity, lots of it and quite a protracted scene
18:12I think it needs to be remembered that this is only two years after sodomy for men over 21 is made legal in Britain
18:25We have a scene here which may be a kind of healthy heterosexual bit of wrestling
18:31But it's probably something else
18:33And Lawrence's novel and his prefaces to the novel evidence that there's certainly something else going on
18:39This was an extraordinary climate in which filmmakers are in cahoots with censors from the outset, from the shooting script
18:50Larry Kramer, who writes the screenplay of Women in Love and produces it
18:54And collaborates very closely with Ken Russell
18:56Wrote to Trevelyan asking that he be part of the creative journey
19:02Dear John, I have pleasure in enclosing my final draft script on the D.H. Lawrence novel, Women in Love
19:09We would very much like to lunch with you after you have read the script
19:14We feel we are embarking on an extraordinary creative experience which we would like to have you share with us
19:20Larry
19:22There's some sense in which the filmmakers are operating in a climate of collaboration with the censors
19:29Which is extraordinary these days, the idea that you can see the chief censor as one of your buddies
19:34Dear Larry, this seems an exciting production
19:37I know Ken Russell and his work well
19:40And I am very happy that he is going to do this picture with you
19:44John
19:45Women in Love have been discussed with Trevelyan as was Coleman at the script stage
19:51And Trevelyan had urged the makers of the film to be cautious in how they shot the famous nude wrestling scene
19:59Dear Larry, I think we should have a talk about your script
20:04I got the impression you had probably hotted up Lawrence a bit here and there
20:10Scene 105
20:12If they were just indulging in horseplay as two friends, there would not be problems
20:18But we have already had clear indications that there are homosexual feelings between them
20:23And this kind of scene could be troublesome if not handled discreetly
20:28I can only advise you to be very cautious about it
20:31It's a gay scene
20:33It's a gay scene as well as a straight scene
20:35It's a sexual scene
20:37Which is going in all sorts of directions
20:40And all the more powerful for that
20:42But Trevelyan really wanted that toned down very clearly
20:44Because he felt that the public climate wasn't ready for such explicit representations of this on screen
20:52Alongside penises
20:54We can't also have penises engaging in homosexual activity
20:59When the film finally came in
21:01There was a lot of hall striding between the distributor and the board
21:06While we are prepared to accept the wrestling scene
21:09We would like you to remove if possible
21:12Full-length shots in which genitals are clearly visible
21:16The main trouble lies in shots where the two boys are standing still
21:20Sincerely, John
21:22When they're moving around
21:24Maybe everything's flapping around
21:25But they're moving around
21:26And it's not quite so visible
21:28When they're standing still
21:29You can focus
21:30You can see everything that's there
21:31Dear John
21:32I gather there is one full-length shot of Gerald which gives offence
21:36The only way out of this is to darken the shot
21:38And this I would be quite prepared to do
21:40I have not included anything in the film that is contrary to the ideals and philosophy of the author
21:46Throwing myself on your good judgement
21:48Ken Russell
21:49I think that they knew that this was done with good artistic intent
21:53And I think the censors really prized this
21:56You know this wasn't just
21:58You know they weren't just gatekeepers
22:00They were actually trying to foster a kind of aesthetic
22:03We all think it's a brilliant film
22:06And are taking this into account in our judgement of it
22:09We would like you to make some small trims in the early part of the scene
22:13So as to avoid undue emphasis on genitals
22:17Dear John, can I say how grateful Ken and I are for your understanding help throughout these past months
22:24Sincerely, Larry
22:26Dear Larry, we will accept the wrestling scene on the understanding that the prints are darkened
22:34Yours, John
22:35The darkening also had the effect of giving it a sort of more classical fire lit aura
22:41So they seemed like figures from a Greek drama rather than male figures from a porno movie
22:47Was it too much for you?
23:14It became incredibly talked about
23:16Though I think some people were rather impervious to it
23:19Ken Russell tells a story of going into a cinema in the middle of nowhere somewhere
23:24And sitting at a very badly attended screening
23:27Where there are just two old ladies and him in the audience
23:29And he sits behind the two old ladies
23:31And he watches their responses during the wrestling scene
23:34And they look at the screen
23:36And it comes to an end
23:38And one says to the other
23:39Lovely carpet
23:41Hallelujah
23:43Hallelujah
23:44Hallelujah
23:45Hallelujah
23:46Hallelujah
23:47Hallelujah
23:48I think I am the saviour of the British film industry
23:50Hallelujah
23:51Hallelujah
23:52Hallelujah
23:53Trevelyan liked Russell
23:54Of course he, you know, he had allowed Women in Love to be passed pretty much intact though
23:59I think one thing that Ken Russell learned was
24:02It really paid to have Trevelyan on side
24:07I care very much about the kind of film that the artist makes
24:11Now the artist may well be in advance of public attitudes
24:15And he may shock, but shock deliberately
24:19I think this is fair enough
24:211971 is a big year for British censorship
24:26And for extreme images on British screen
24:29And it's also a big year in the career of Ken Russell
24:33He's done Women in Love
24:35He's done The Music Lovers
24:37These are films with extreme context and extreme content
24:42We get to the devils and it's really pushing it even further
24:47Once I decided upon the course to do this film
24:50Then I just had to go along with the truth as it was reported
24:56On August the 18th, 1634
24:59In the small French town of Loudoun
25:01Sister Jeanne of the Angels
25:02Declared herself the victim of satanic visitations
25:05Jeanne's claim of diabolical rape
25:08Brought a team of exorcists to the convent
25:10And these good men soon provoked all the nuns into spectacular obscenities
25:15Loudoun was visited by tourists from all over Europe
25:18Who came to view the antics of the nuns
25:21In 1952, Aldous Huxley published his famous account
25:24Which formed the basis for a film by Ken Russell
25:27When the BBFC first saw the devils
25:31There were members of the board
25:33Who thought that it should be banned outright
25:36I consider this to be a nauseating piece of filmmaking
25:44Whatever the deeper meaning intended by Ken Russell
25:47It comes to the screen with such elements of sadism, cruelty, pornography and blasphemy
25:53It will appeal chiefly to the prurient
25:55It is, of course, brilliant
25:59But the question it raises is
26:01Whether brilliance justifies complete artistic freedom
26:05We'll carry on in the background enjoying ourselves
26:08All nudging and saying, isn't it, Cap?
26:10There were sequences all through it
26:13That seemed to go beyond anything we'd passed until that time
26:17I have no personal knowledge as to the shape of nuns under their habits
26:23But I doubt they all look like the playmates of this film
26:27Ken Penry
26:29The main sequence, of course, was the orgy with the nuns
26:35And there were so many shots in that that were way over the top
26:39At that period of time
26:41That I was quite convinced it could never be shown in public
26:45Without a police prosecution following it
26:49Essentially what you're dealing with here
26:51Is what came to be known as the Rape of Christ sequence
26:59Well, I didn't think it was suitable for public viewing
27:19Reel 9, 10 and 11
27:22There is far too much of the orgy
27:24Too much nudity
27:26Too much masturbation
27:28Scenes of nuns making love to the effigy of Christ
27:31Which seem to me to be prohibitive
27:33At a visual level, that film is so fiery
27:37So Russellian
27:39So everything turned up to 11
27:41I mean, it is the kind of distilled essence of what Russell does
27:44If you see that film and you don't feel like you've been run over by a truck
27:48You didn't watch the film properly
27:51The Devils
28:02Points for discussion with Ken Russell
28:04Russell says that the way that he described it to him was
28:06I'm just about to cut your best scene but don't blame me, that's my job
28:21Remove shot of Mother Superior masturbating
28:24Further reduce the orgy
28:26Removing all shots of nuns masturbating on the figure of the crucified Christ
28:37Father Mignon masturbating on the gallery
28:39And shots of the nun rubbing the candle sexually
28:42There's this wonderful sequence of letters batting backwards and forwards about
28:47With Russell pleading to keep his film for reasons of integrity
28:53Dear John, I did not set out to make a cosy religious drama that would please everyone
28:59Actually, I have toned this down of my own accord
29:03For instance, I do not show the nuns throwing their habits over their heads
29:07And running through the audience inviting them to fuck me
29:10I have butchered the film at your bidding far and away beyond anything I dreamed of
29:17I beg you now to leave it as it is
29:20Please, sincerely, Ken Russell
29:23He's a Catholic himself, he sees that as really important
29:26This is a film about blasphemy and I need to retain it as it is now, please, please, please
29:32Otherwise, it will, it will, the meanings of it will break apart
29:37And blasphemy as an issue will not be represented in the way that I want it to be represented
29:42Dear Ken, we saw your modified version of The Devils today
29:46The orgy sequences have been very substantially shortened
29:49But remove the shot of the naked girl twirling on a kind of swing
29:55Look, do this, alright, I've done that, but can I have that?
29:58You've taken the shit off the altar, I've done the thing with the...
30:01Can I please have the nun with the candle?
30:03I mean, it's that level of almost comic interplay
30:06I'm sure it wasn't funny at the time
30:08Dear John, I have cleared up the shit on the altar, slashed the whipping and cut the orgy in two
30:16I hope you don't feel tempted to tamper with this sequence as it now stands
30:22Christ must be debased and must be seen to be debased
30:26Yours, Ken
30:29What happened was that essentially a block sequence came out
30:33And that block sequence came out, little elements of it remained in the various versions of The Devils
30:39But they were hints, but the whole sequence of the cross coming down, of the huge big statue coming down
30:44And being ravaged went in its entirety
30:48We are satisfied with what you have done to meet our wishes in the way of further cuts on The Devils
30:55Past X with deletions
30:59Well, I've always been an idealist and I've always been a libertarian
31:03And that means I've always hoped that someday censorship would not be necessary
31:07I think it's necessary now
31:09I don't think it will disappear entirely
31:12It may do even in my lifetime
31:15It may disappear in my children's lifetime
31:17But it means a whole lot more personal responsibility
31:21Than exists today with just a few people who are out to make money out of human weakness
31:26John Trevelyan, thank you very much indeed for talking to us
31:30John Trevelyan knew what was going to come
31:34And it was a case of après moi la deluge
31:38And Stephen Murphy, who took over from him, caught the lot
31:50I don't know how far society can go
31:53And you know, it's not a question that I'm called upon to answer
31:56People will submit films to the board
31:59And even talk about the films before they make them
32:02And a great deal depends on the quality and integrity with which those films are made
32:11What happened with Stephen Murphy was that he, you know, he sort of reaped the whirlwind
32:14He inherited a very difficult situation
32:16Which was that he came to power in the middle of the most almighty shit storm
32:20The whole world has a problem of moral culture
32:26And once again Britain has the chance today to give leadership to the whole world
32:32And the devil's comes out in a climate of worry
32:48Once it reaches a sort of wider environs of British society
32:53It's picketed by the festival of light
32:55It becomes a scandal film in a much wider sense
32:58So lots of letters arrive on his desk
33:02Dear Mr Murphy, I saw the devils yesterday
33:08I was disgusted at the blasphemous implications
33:12Pornographic to the worst degree, moronic and depraved
33:18I found this demoralising, highly indecent and blasphemous
33:23And certainly harmful
33:24We are amazed the confidence that the people of Britain have placed in your wisdom
33:28Has been so sadly abused
33:30Stephen Murphy has to pick up the flack
33:35Your letter makes me very sad
33:38My personal knowledge of the devils is not great
33:42Since in fact the work on it was done by my predecessor
33:45I am grieved that you should find the film so hurtful
33:49Yours sincerely, Stephen Murphy
33:52Stephen Murphy was very much the family man
33:56He'd made films before
33:58And in fact the tallest transmitter in the Pennines
34:03Was the subject of one of his documentaries
34:06Which he took me to see at the time
34:081971 is a huge year for scandal movies
34:20Suddenly there were movies before him that to this day remain controversial
34:33Oh dear, I fought from thee, I fought from thee, I fought from thee, I fought from thee
34:48Seeing Clockwork Orange, the two things that were genuinely shocking
34:51Were one at the beginning where the tramp gets kicked to death in this underpass
34:56And secondly, Adrian Corey being raped while they all sang Singing in the Rain
35:02Which by the way upset Gene Kelly mightily at the time
35:06Examination notes
35:08Examination notes
35:10The visuals, however restrained, could not possibly get into even the X category
35:15Unless we're willing to turn our existing standards upside down for the sake of this one film
35:21Even to this day, it's reckoned it was a very, very brave move
35:26Move on the part of the board to pass it
35:28Past X, Stephen Murphy
35:32Well, it was the usual outcry
35:36But basically the board stuck to its guns
35:39And said no, we consider that this film should be shown its entirety
35:44And of course this myth developed that Clockwork Orange was withdrawn from distribution
35:48Because of Murphy, it wasn't
35:50It was entirely because of Stanley Kubrick
35:52It was passed
35:53It went the rounds, I saw it
35:55And then Stanley Kubrick got this rather unfortunate letter
35:58Threatening his family
36:00Saying that, you know, violence would happen to his family
36:03And he was rather a paranoid disposition anyway
36:05So he insists, only in England, the only territory he insisted on
36:08That this film gets withdrawn
36:09And he's so powerful, with Warner Brothers, that they agree
36:12So it had nothing to do with Murphy
36:14You would judge each film on its own individual merits?
36:18On its own individual merits
36:19And I'll be wrong
36:20And it'll be for the public to decide how often I'm wrong, how often I'm right
36:24I can't give the answer to that
36:26Straw dogs really upset people
36:33Hello darkness my old friend
36:36I've come to talk with you again
36:40It's a stomach-turning movie
36:42Even the author of the original novel on which it was based disassociated himself
36:46Because he thought there was too much mayhem going on
36:48I wouldn't like to be sitting in the censor's chair making the decision about Straw Dogs
36:54In the case of Straw Dogs, it has centrally the infamous rape sequence
37:03He goes in to live manually
37:06I speak to her
37:08And mange her smile
37:10What do you see?
37:12I think that she is yes
37:13Who is so
37:16견ur Africa
37:18Burgesses
37:2000415
37:23comida
37:24cats
37:27At the beginning of the straw dog scene
37:29The problem of the straw dog scene is the same thing as a ant zar
37:33É a cena que tem um grande problema filosofical, que é que se você ler um jeito, você pode dizer que não é sim.
37:45Eu acho que é talvez ainda mais problemática agora do que foi em 1971.
37:49Mas, não foi realmente pressionada em 1971, mas foi passada com mínima cuts.
37:55O filme foi lançado para esse howl de publico outrage, que não era do que individual shots, era do que todo o tenor do filme.
38:04Um dos principais críticos daquela época era Alexander Walker, do The Evening Standard, e ele muito disliked o filme.
38:13Depois disso, nada vai.
38:16O que o filme censor permitiu no screeno em Straw Dogs,
38:19faz um wonder se ele tem mais um papel útil para tocar no cinema.
38:25Eu acho que um grande momento de crise vem para os censores,
38:28quando você vê filmes como Straw Dogs e como Death Wish,
38:33que são filmes que pedem para o privilégio de liberal art,
38:38mas não são liberal artes.
38:41Eles são filmes que são contra a ideia de liberalismo,
38:45que não professam liberal opiniões.
38:47E, ainda não existem até a existência,
38:49eles precisam de existência de uma sociedade liberal,
38:51que eles parem também estar à war com.
38:54Você é um rico, cunt!
38:57Eu vou matar o rico, cunt!
38:59Crianas estão ficando...
39:01A gente está ficando doida.
39:05O filme de Death Wish é comparativamente mild.
39:10Eu não sei, eu não sei,
39:11não sei, não sei,
39:12a chambo, stupididade de vergonha eu senti...
39:16. . .
39:46. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
40:16Não, não, não, não, não, não, não.
40:46E o final parágrafo é o que ele é idiota.
40:52Em dois respectos,
40:54o aerosol e a repetida use de a palavra cunt,
40:57essa sequência vai mais longe do que qualquer coisa que nós temos visto.
41:01Você pode achar que a sociedade pode acessar 8 ou 9 shootings
41:06e ainda pode obter a palavra de diálogo,
41:08mas ela não.
41:09Mas a sociedade não, Murphy faz.
41:13Eu, eu, não, não, não, não, não, não, não, não.
41:16Ele é um pessoal que moronha que teve uma escolha.
41:21Ele não stand grim contra os desse, aliás todo isso.
41:23PASTE X,
41:26O CUTS waived.
41:28Parte 22,
41:30scene 36.
41:33this shootinam,
41:35é muito mais pesquisita.
41:37In a way, in Histories of Censorship, Stephen Murphy, he's rather unfairly treated, I think,
41:43because he's been rather sort of dumped on, I think, partly because he was the right person at the wrong time,
41:49and partly because all these films came out and things happened to them which weren't really in his control.
41:55An open letter to the Times.
41:57Sir, we wish to draw attention to the now serious and growing inconsistencies of film censorship.
42:03And it was very, very unfortunate for Stephen, who was a very nice man, but I'm afraid it all proved rather too much for him.
42:12Mr Murphy is the present censor. Are you calling for his resignation?
42:15I don't think that he is necessarily the man to be the final arbiter.
42:20I think he would be better employed maybe on a panel or as an examiner, but not as the final arbiter for the job.
42:27For that, I think he's the wrong man.
42:28Due to this extreme pressure on Stephen, and he told me that even his family even received obscene phone calls,
42:39this was really proving too much for him.
42:41And I don't think that when he did retire from the board, he was at all sorry to go.
42:46James Ferman had impeccable credentials, perhaps the best of anybody for this role in charge of the BBFC.
43:10You know, he knew about filmmaking, he'd trained as a TV director, he'd made documentaries about drug problems, children problems and so on.
43:17And I think he had the best of liberal intentions when he arrived.
43:21I had enormous respect for Jim when first I joined the board.
43:24He was a man of intellect.
43:30He came from a background, as he constantly told us, of making films for television and drama, so he said he knew about these things.
43:40To be fair, we are the most conservative censorship body of any of the major Western countries, as far as sex is concerned.
43:48And although there was quite a restrictive backlash a few years ago, I don't think there has been now,
43:54because I think they do realise that we have held a line.
43:57On the other hand, what I've tried to be is more reasonable about the line we hold.
44:02He ran headlong into various moral panics, as tended to be of the times, you know, the late 70s, early 80s.
44:09Salo by Pasolini, which would push anyone's definition of taboo.
44:14You know, this film set in 1944 in North Italy, which is based on Desaad's 120 Days of Sodom,
44:21where virtually every deviation in the book is gone through by these four aristocrats,
44:25including Coprophilia, eating shit to you and me,
44:29which is not exactly something that is featured very often in the movies.
44:31Eat, eat, my dear husband. You have to reinforce you. Eat, you have to reinforce you for the night of love that is waiting for you.
44:44There is nothing worse than a hat without any smell.
44:51Eva.
44:51There is a lot of sex in it.
45:05Rather, it represents what power does to the human being, to the human body.
45:11That is, to reduce the human body to a saleable commodity.
45:15The clothes are not coming, eh?
45:17Action!
45:28When Pasolini's Salo was submitted to the BBFC,
45:32it was pretty clear to everyone within the board that the film was beyond any of the standards that the board had accepted to that point.
45:40However, it was accepted by James Furman in particular that it was an important and interesting film and that it should be shown.
45:49When the film opened in club cinemas, it was seized by the police,
45:55and the director of public prosecutions stated his view that the film was likely to be obscene under the Obscene Publications Act.
46:03Dear Mr Furman, the decision to seek a search warrant under Section 3 of the Obscene Publications Act in respect of Salo was taken.
46:15The film, now having been seized, the matter is subjudice.
46:19Sir Thomas Hetherington, director of public prosecutions.
46:21James Furman disputed this, saying that the point of Salo was that it showed material that was depraved and corrupt,
46:33but that the film itself would not deprave and corrupt an audience.
46:36The whole point of Salo was to show revolting, disgusting behaviour in order to revolt and discuss, not to turn people on.
46:45Dear Sir Thomas, this would be the first case in 20 years in which the work of a major internationally acknowledged artist has been prosecuted in the British courts.
46:58The sexual and other horrors are presented either in long shot or off screen.
47:03There is no exploitative sensationalising.
47:07This is a turn-off film and not a turn-on.
47:10When it came to the negotiations with the DPP as to whether the film should be cut or not,
47:17James Furman sent a very long and memorable letter to the director of public prosecutions,
47:24informing him that, in his opinion, the DPP had misunderstood the law.
47:29It seems to me that your advisers have misunderstood the law of obscenity in Britain,
47:37and have allowed their own sense of outraged propriety to colour their view of the film's legality.
47:43The portrayal of evil in works of art is not the same thing as its endorsement.
47:49It was quite typical of James to feel that he understood the law better than the law enforcement agencies.
47:55Indecency, in other words, the control of sexual manners, should no longer be criminal,
48:02because I do think that in a modern society, what is criminal should be what is harmful,
48:07and I think simply to be embarrassing or to be offensive is not really a criminal activity.
48:12The DPP reached an agreement with James Furman where James would cut the film in the event by seven minutes,
48:20simply so that a legal version could be shown in club cinemas.
48:23The film was never formally submitted to the board again until 2000, when it was passed uncut.
48:35Imagine a machine that plugs into your television and records programmes from the aerial onto a two-and-a-half-hour cassette.
48:42A machine that records one channel while you're watching another, and even switches itself on.
48:4740% of five- and six-year-old children have seen a video nasty, showing scenes of sadistic sex and violence horrific enough to have been seized by the police.
48:59There was no certification system for home entertainment, so all these videos are coming out uncertificated between 82 and 84.
49:14You see a lot of blood, you see a lot of people getting their heads chopped off and slaughtered all over the place.
49:21It turns into a huge moral panic.
49:23Children's calling the search of blood to terrorise your neighbourhood.
49:31Distributors of videotapes want to introduce classifications similar to those operating at the cinema.
49:37They warn which films need parental guidance and which should be limited to the over-15s and the over-18s.
49:42Suddenly in 84, it's legislation.
49:45For the first time in the history of the BBFC, it is a statutory body.
49:49It has a statutory duty to censor videos, to watch them all and to censor them.
49:54And this completely changes its role in society.
49:56It's no longer a voluntary industry body, a self-regulating body that the industry sees the value of.
50:02It's a wing of government.
50:05Furman just locked everything down and said, I'll deal with it.
50:08And we've sort of restored this sense of patrician authority, which is, it's okay, trust me, I'm dealing with it.
50:15We've had to classify every video in the shops by tomorrow.
50:18So midnight tonight, the job has to be done.
50:21So you had, on top of having to, this tremendous job, you've also had Rambo 3 and The Last Temptation of Christ thrown in on top of it.
50:29Just the month we didn't need it.
50:31How many more videos have you to do? Your deadline's tomorrow.
50:33Well, I'm going back to the office after this programme tonight.
50:35The BBFC was James Furman.
50:38I mean, he did a very interesting job of essentially becoming the, you know, the judge and jury and having the final word.
50:47I mean, even getting an interview with him, it's like an audience with the Pope.
50:50You know, it's like, I've actually got to interview James Furman.
50:56Arising out of all this storm of controversy in 84, the name of the organisation changes from censorship to classification.
51:05Which was Furman's idea.
51:07And it's very clever.
51:08I mean, you don't look heavy-handed.
51:11You're not a censor.
51:12You're a classifier.
51:13It's an objective thing.
51:14You're like a library person who does library cards and does all the index numbers.
51:18You know, you classify.
51:19Classification is very different to censorship.
51:21And so it has remained.
51:25Good evening.
51:26The headlines at six o'clock.
51:27An armed man has opened fire with an automatic weapon in a Berkshire town.
51:31At least nine people are dead.
51:33Fourteen are injured.
51:35In my impression, there were people who were saying he was playing Rambo.
51:38Tonight, the town of Hungerford has been sealed off.
51:40The gunman is still at large and still armed.
51:43The day after Hungerford, we had a board meeting, these monthly board meetings that we would have.
51:51And Jim came into the meeting in a state of mind that I would only describe as hysterical.
51:59That is, completely beside himself.
52:01And the hysterical response was to say, as a result of this, we must absolutely look at how guns are portrayed in films.
52:13And we must absolutely hack it back because this is what's happened.
52:16Because there was a completely ill-advised linking in the media's mind between what Michael Ryan did in Hungerford and the Rambo films.
52:27First and second Rambo, certificate 15.
52:3014, Rambo 3, certificate 18.
52:33Hungerford had happened in between.
52:37Examiner report.
52:39This silly, rather enjoyable movie is likely to be a political red hot potato.
52:44What with all the hoo-ha about Rambo 2 and then Hungerford.
53:00Two-thirds of the film, that is, about an hour and a quarter, is non-stop shooting, explosions, bodies falling, impact shots.
53:10It's not so much what is shown, but how much and how relentlessly.
53:14The issue was a category issue.
53:19That is, whether it should be 15 or 18 and whether it should be cut for either or both categories.
53:24Notes on viewing.
53:26Another all-action attempt to further the Rambo cult and swell Stallone's bank balance.
53:33Given that we've passed the second film and the cult is here, I reluctantly go for a 15.
53:39Expertly made, pity about the script and the wooden actor in the lead.
53:44My inclination in the current climate would be to pass 18.
53:49My instinct would be to pass it 15.
53:52Give Rambo a break.
53:53I think there was a feeling at the BBFC that Rambo 3 was probably a 15 under normal conditions.
54:02But at the time, if they gave it a 15, they would just have such a howling storm of protest that it wouldn't be worth their while.
54:13Public disquiet is at its height.
54:16It is naive to believe that we can always act without regard to political realities.
54:20Indeed, I would go further and argue that it's irresponsible.
54:25Pass 18.
54:26Well, the final decision was that it was made an 18, but a cut version.
54:31What we all want is a quiet life.
54:36It's fascinating what they thought, I mean, it's fairly unpleasant throughout, actually, but what they thought was particularly unpleasant.
54:41One is a little boy fingering a knife delightedly.
54:45In other words, the emulation effect.
54:47Somebody, I want to be like Rambo.
54:49That upset them.
54:50What is this?
54:53It's a knife.
54:53Can you see this?
54:54Yes.
55:03Very good.
55:04Can I have it?
55:09Remove sight of Rambo's knife being twirled by a young boy after he takes it from holster.
55:14James developed the board's weapons policy to such an extent that any sight of certain weapons, including certain types of knives, was just unacceptable.
55:28The examiners knew it was unacceptable, and it came to a point by the 1990s where generally it wasn't really worth an examiner even making an argument.
55:37I do think there is a problem in the gradual increase step-by-step, drip, drip, drip, drip, over the 80s of slightly more violence in films, even in junior category films, is a worry, because kids nowadays are becoming acclimatized to more violence than kids 20 years ago.
55:57And I think, on the whole, that is not a healthy phenomenon.
56:00I think for James Furman, it was a key thing. Movies are harmful, or can be harmful, and you have to trust me on this. I know better than you.
56:08James' most famous concern was with the so-called chain sticks, which are two pieces of wood with a chain between them, most famously used by Bruce Lee.
56:21Probably the silliest and most notorious example of James' obsession was the film Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2, where there's a sequence in which one of the turtles uses a string of sausages in a manner that suggests that they are chain sticks.
56:42Of course, they're not actually chain sticks, they are sausages.
56:45Come back, cookers!
56:54James was having none of it and decided that the sequence had to be removed. We were only able to reinstate the sausage sequence after James' departure.
57:03Now, I have actually a great deal of sympathy with James Furman. I think that he at least was trying to do an extremely
57:15difficult job.
57:29In a way, talking about the BBFC today is like talking about it 100 years ago. Exactly the same issues. If you're too heavy-handed, the Liberals don't like you. If you're too light-handed, then the Conservatives don't like you.
57:37And you've got to walk this narrow path between the two extremes who don't like you, whatever you do. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.
57:52We only allow access to files and correspondence up until the last 20 years. Partly to protect the identity and comments of the Board's current examiners, but also because a lot of the Board's work is commercially sensitive to the distributors.
58:11Well, of course, there are now 20 years of film notes that are still under lock and key that we don't know about. The Natural Born Killers, Reservoir Dogs.
58:26There is, for example, some very interesting material between James Furman and Oliver Stone on Natural Born Killers, but I'm afraid, for the time being, you'll just have to wait to see it.
58:39Does it have to wait to see it?
58:41Do it have to wait to see it?
58:42Do it have to wait to see it?
58:52I'm afraid, you'll just have to wait to see it.
58:55Amém.
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