Censorship in France
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
Revision as of 20:02, 12 January 2009 Jahsonic (Talk | contribs) ← Previous diff |
Revision as of 10:17, 8 April 2009 Jahsonic (Talk | contribs) (→List of censored films) Next diff → |
||
Line 43: | Line 43: | ||
* ''[[Du - Zwischenzeichen der Sexualität]]''[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0213321/] ([[1968]]) | * ''[[Du - Zwischenzeichen der Sexualität]]''[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0213321/] ([[1968]]) | ||
* [[Gillo Pontecorvo]], ''[[The Battle of Algiers (film)|The Battle of Algiers]],'' ([[1965]]) | * [[Gillo Pontecorvo]], ''[[The Battle of Algiers (film)|The Battle of Algiers]],'' ([[1965]]) | ||
- | * ''[[L'Essayeuse]],'' ([[1976]]) | + | * ''[[L'Essayeuse]]'' ([[1976]]) by [[Serge Korber]] |
* ''[[Romance (1999 film)]]'' | * ''[[Romance (1999 film)]]'' | ||
Revision as of 10:17, 8 April 2009
Related e |
Featured: |
France does not recognise religious law, nor does it recognise religious beliefs or morality as a motivation for the enactment of prohibitions. As a consequence, France has long had neither blasphemy laws nor sodomy laws (the latter being abolished in 1791). However "offences against public decency" (contraires aux bonnes mœurs) or breach of the peace (trouble à l'ordre public) have been used to repress public expressions of homosexuality or street prostitution.
Contents |
Cinema
All films intended for theatrical release have to be granted a visa by the Ministry of Culture, upon the recommendation of Commission for film classification (Commission de classification cinématographique), which can give a film one of four ratings:
- Tous publics (universal): suitable for all audiences
- Interdit aux moins de 12 ans (-12): Forbidden for under 12s
- Interdit aux moins de 16 ans (-16): Forbidden for under 16s
- Interdit aux moins de 18 ans (-18): Forbidden for under 18s
Cinemas are bound by law to prevent underaged audiences from viewing films and may be fined if they fail to do so.
The Commission cannot make cuts to a film, but it can ban it, although this latter power is rarely used. In practice, this means that most films in France are categorized rather than censored.
Although there are no written guidelines as to what sort of content should receive which rating and ratings are given on a case by case basis, the commissioners typically cite violent, sexual and drug related content (especially if it is deemed to be graphic or gratuitous) as reasons for higher ratings. By contrast little attention is paid to strong language. However sexual content is much less likely to produce a high rating than in many other countries, including the United States.
Films that have received comparatively low ratings in France include:
- American Beauty, -12
- À ma sœur!, -12
- Eyes Wide Shut, U (Rated NC-17 in US)
- Kids, -12
- Taxi Driver, -16, reclassified to -12
List of censored books
- Henri Alleg, La Question (Minuit, 1958 - on the use of torture during the Algerian War)
- Frantz Fanon's The Wretched of the Earth ([1961), with a preface from Jean-Paul Sartre (published by François Maspero)
- Mongo Beti's Cruel hand on Cameroon, autopsy of a decolonization (Maspero, 1972) censored by the Ministry of the Interior Raymond Marcellin on the request, brought forward by Jacques Foccart, of the Cameroon government, represented in Paris by the ambassador Ferdinand Oyono.
List of censored songs
- Boris Vian, The Deserter (1954)
List of censored films
- La Garçonne, (1923)
- Zéro de conduite, (1933)
- Jean-Luc Godard, Le Petit Soldat (1960)
- Du - Zwischenzeichen der Sexualität[1] (1968)
- Gillo Pontecorvo, The Battle of Algiers, (1965)
- L'Essayeuse (1976) by Serge Korber
- Romance (1999 film)
See also