Source: Reuters/Variety
By: Adam Dawtrey
(LONDON) — Britain’s film censors have passed the controversial French movie “Baise-moi” (Rape Me) for U.K. distribution, with one 10-second cut.
The British Board of Film Classification has insisted that distributor Feature Film Co. remove a shot of sexual penetration during a rape. But several other consensual penetration scenes have been left untouched.
The decision confirms the recent liberalization of British censorship rules involving sex. The board recently carried out a public consultation exercise, which revealed that British audiences have become more relaxed about the depiction of sex acts on the big screen and do not want the censor deciding what they are allowed to see.
The line is still drawn at extreme sexual violence. The rape sequence in “Baise-moi” remains, but the penetration shot is being removed because, in the words of the board’s ruling, it adds “an explicitly pornographic dimension” to a scene that is otherwise ”a compelling portrayal of the ugliness and horror of rape.”
“We regret … the necessity to censor part of a film directed at a mature adult audience who may reasonably expect to make up their own minds about it,” said the board’s statement.
