Blasphemy at the BBFC

Hail Mary is a 1985 France/Switzerland/UK drama by Jean-Luc Godard.
With Myriem Roussel, Thierry Rode and Philippe Lacoste.

US: Uncut and MPAA Unrated for:

• US 2013 Cohen Media Group (RA) Blu-ray at US Amazon released on 7th January 2014

Censorship History

Set in modern times with characters, Mary, Joseph and a virgin birth. Somehow wound up the nutters perhaps for its plentiful nudity. Kicked off a blasphemy storm in Australia and somehow never made it to UK cinema/DVD

Summary Review : Illuminating

In this modern retelling of the Virgin birth, Mary is a student who plays basketball and works at her father's petrol station; Joseph is an earnest dropout who drives a cab. The angel Gabriel must school Joseph to accept Mary's pregnancy, while Mary comes to terms with God's plan through meditations that are sometimes angry and usually punctuated by elemental images of the sun, moon, clouds, flowers, and water.

Perhaps only Jean-Luc Godard would be arrogant or mad enough to make a film of the nativity recast in 1980s. He concentrates on the experience of Mary, who is a basketball playing teenager who has stuck by her high moral standards by not sleeping with her boyfriend Joseph only to find herself pregnant by divine intervention. She struggles with the idea of a child growing inside her without having played a role in its conception or even enjoyed the intimacy of its creation.

There is a lot of nudity and it is perhaps this which was considered most controversial, but this is always non-sexual and unlikely to be found offensive.

On the whole the film is subtle and illuminating

US: Uncut and MPAA R rated

• 2013 Shout! Factory [Horror Marathon Volume 2] R1 DVD at US Amazon released on 29th October 2013

Cellar Dweller is a 1988 USA horror fantasy by John Carl Buechler.
With Yvonne De Carlo, Debrah Farentino and Brian Robbins.

Summary Notes

In the 1930s a horror-comic artist's creations come alive and kill him. Years later a new cartoonist revives the creatures in his house, now part of an artist's colony.

The Dungeonmaster (aka Ragewar) is a 1984 USA Sci-Fi fantasy by David Allen, Charles Band...
With Jeffrey Byron, Richard Moll and Leslie Wing.

Summary Notes

A demonic wizard challenges a modern-day computer programmer to a battle of technology vs. sorcery, with the programmer's girlfriend as the prize.

UK Censorship History

Passed 15 after 56s of BBFC category cuts for:

• 1986 Entertainment in Video Video
• 1984 cinema release

Contamination 7 (aka Creepers) is a 1993 Italy/Canada horror by Joe D'Amato and Fabrizio Laurenti.
With Mary Sellers, Jason Saucier and Bubba Reeves.

Summary Notes

People from a small town are attacked by evil radioactive tree roots growing in the forest.

Catacombs is a 1988 Italy/US horror by David Schmoeller.
With Timothy Van Patten, Ian Abercrombie and Jeremy West.

UK Censorship

Passed 18 after 12s of BBFC cuts for 1988 EIV VHS

From the BBFC. Cut for blasphemy:

• Cuts to remove a sequence in which a priest is punished for his gluttony by Christ. In the sequence removed by the Board, a statue of Christ came alive and stabbed the priest to death with a nail he had pulled from his ankle.

Summary Notes: A demon with cool moves

A demon is trapped in a monastery. 400 years later a young girl arrives at the monastery to study.

Surprisingly, the characters throughout are well rounded, often humorous and quite believable. The demon that stalks the catacombs has some cool moves that unfortunately are not really exploited in the films conclusion.

The Devils is a 1971 UK drama by Ken Russell. With Vanessa Redgrave and Oliver Reed. See IMDb

The cut UK Cinema version/X Rated US Version was passed 18 without further cuts for:

• UK 2012 BFI R2 DVD at UK Amazon released today on 19th March 2012

See article from criterionforum.org

After much arm-twisting the BFI has indeed persuaded Warner Bros to let them handle The Devils, and a packed two-disc lovingly-curated special edition will be out next March.

I'll get the bad news out of the way right now: as already spotted, it's DVD only, and it's the 1971 British theatrical cut, not the 2004 restoration. Since BFI DVD Publishing is demonstrably run by Blu-ray evangelists and has a policy of sourcing the longest available version of the films they put out, you probably don't need to live at 221B Baker Street to work out the reasons for this.

But that really does appear to be all the bad news. I've seen the full specs, and it looks like an absolute blinder of a release - and hopefully all will be revealed in a matter of days.

Disk Features

• DVD premiere presentation of the original UK X certificate version
• Mark Kermode introduction (2012, 2 mins): the broadcaster and critic's newly filmed foreword to The Devils
• Audio commentary with Ken Russell, Mark Kermode, Michael Bradsell and Paul Joyce
• Hell on Earth (Paul Joyce, 2002, 48 mins): documentary exploring the film's production and the controversial history
• Director of Devils(1971, 22 mins): documentary featuring candid Ken Russell interviews and unique footage of Sir Peter Maxwell Davies recording his score
• On-set footage with Michael Bradsell commentary(2012, 8 mins)
• On-stage Q&A with Ken Russell (2012, 13 mins): the director in conversation with Mark Kermode at the NFT in 2004
• Amelia and the Angel (Ken Russell, 1958, 26 mins): a delightful mix of religious allegory and magical fantasy
• Original UK trailer
• Original US trailer
• Fully illustrated booklet featuring new essays by Mark Kermode, Craig Lapper (BBFC), and editor Michael Bradsell, with original production materials and on-set photographs
• main feature optional hard-of-hearing subtitles
• original aspect ratio 2.35:1 (16x9 enhanced)

Previously released on video with further cuts made for a US R rating

The extensively cut US R Rated Version was passed 18 without further BBFC cuts for:

• UK 1988 Warner VHS

The cut UK Cinema Version was passed X for its US release but was further cut for an R Rating.

This R Rated version was cut as follows:

1. Grandier (Oliver Reed) drives doctors away from dying woman loses some of hers screams and a little nudity.
2. Sister Jeanne (Vanessa Redgrave) dream of Grandier as Christ does not show her licking Christ's wounds, clasped hands by a crown of thorns and some of the lovemaking scene.
3. Shots of Jeanne masturbating and two shots of her whipping herself have been removed.
4. A nude Phillipe (Georgina Hale) brought before Laubardemont (Dudley Sutton) has lost the pubic hair.
5. An enema of Jeanna on the altar does not show the insertion of a syringe between her legs.
6. Shots of nuns stripping and one vomiting have vanished
7. the King's visit to Loudon has lost vomit and pubic hair along with a nun masturbating with a candle and an enema.
8. A needle is Grandier's tongue has been cut.
9. Whilst Laubardem collects statements against Grandier, we miss naked nuns kissing and caressing.
10. The shot of a nun's hanging body been taken down has been cut to remove nudity.
11. The torture of Grandier has lost 4 hammer blows and a shot of his bloody legs.
12. As Grandier crawls to the stake, kicks by Barre (Michael Gothard) have been deleted
13. The burning of Grandier has been reduced
14. Jeanne inserting a purging device between her legs is no more.

The UK cinema version was cut by both the BBFC and the distributors, Warner Brothers

A pre-cut version was passed X (18) after BBFC cuts for:

• UK 1971 cinema release

The resultant cuts from distributors and several submissions to the BBFC were:

• A scene showing nuns assaulting an effigy of the cross was deleted (approximately 30s)
• An enema scene loses some details
• The crushing of Grandier's legs loses details.
• Grandier's tongue torture loses details
• Shots of a priest being assaulted by nuns after the King's visit are missing
• Jeanne masturbating with a chard bone was cut
• Whippings scenes throughout were removed

Visions of Ecstasy is a 1989 UK erotic short by Nigel Wingrove. With Louise Downie, Elisha Scott and Dan Fox. See IMDb

It was originally banned by the BBFC for a 1989 Axel VHS . It was the only film banned in the UK solely on grounds of blasphemy.

The BBFC decision was subsequently appealed to the Video Appeals Committee, who upheld the ban. Then director Nigel Wingrove then took his case to the European Court of Human Rights , but again lost his case.

In 2008, section 79 of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act abolished the common law offences of blasphemy and blasphemous libel. And now the film has been passed 18 uncut for a 2012 4Digital home video release.

But don't expect too much. Director Nigel Wingrove was a bit defensive when talking to the BBFC :

If I made the film now I would make it very differently, I was exploring areas of dark eroticism, but I had worked chiefly in prints, not films.

People say I should put it out, but on a personal level I have reservations. If I did release it, I would need to put it into context and perhaps release a documentary to accompany it.

The film has now been passed 18 uncut for nudity and sex involving religious images for:

• UK 2012 4DigitalRedemption R2 DVD at UK Amazon for release 26th March 2012

The BBFC have explained their decision to unban the film in a press release :

Visions of Ecstasy is a 19 minute short film, featuring a sequence in which a figure representing St Teresa of Avila interacts sexually with a figure representing the crucified Christ. When the film was originally submitted to the BBFC in 1989, for video classification only, the Board refused to issue a classification certificate. This decision was taken on the grounds that the publication of the film, which the issue of a BBFC certificate would permit, might constitute an offence under the common law test of blasphemous libel.

The Board is required, as part of the terms of its designation under the Video Recordings Act 1984, to seek to avoid classifying any work that might infringe the criminal law. Therefore, the Board had no alternative at the time but to refuse a classification. The Board's decision to refuse a classification to the film was subsequently upheld by the independent Video Appeals Committee.

In 2008, section 79 of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act abolished the common law offences of blasphemy and blasphemous libel. This means that the BBFC is no longer entitled to consider whether the publication of the film might comprise a blasphemous libel.

The BBFC has carefully considered Visions of Ecstasy in terms of its current classification Guidelines. These reflect both the requirements of UK law and the wishes of the UK public, as expressed through regular large scale consultation exercises. With the abolition of the offence of blasphemy, the Board does not consider that the film is in breach of any other UK law that is currently in force. Nor does the Board regard the film as likely to cause harm to viewers in the terms envisioned by the Video Recordings Act.

The Board recognises that the content of the film may be deeply offensive to some viewers. However, the Board's Guidelines reflect the clear view of the public that adults should have the right to choose their own viewing, provided that the material in question is neither illegal nor harmful. In the absence of any breach of UK law and the lack of any credible risk of harm, as opposed to mere offensiveness, the Board has no sustainable grounds on which to refuse a classification to Visions of Ecstasy in 2012. Therefore the film has been classified for video release at 18 without cuts.

The outrage which cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad have provoked among Muslims has prompted much self-righteous blather about the sanctity of free speech. Yet Muslims are not the only ones who seem to find blasphemy beyond the pale, and who believe that religion should take precedence over liberty. Here in the UK, Christians retain the protection of the law of 'blasphemous libel', a common law offence which forbids the publication of 'contemptuous, reviling, scurrilous or ludicrous matter relating to God'. Although archaic, this law provides a striking counterpoint to the claim that freedom of expression is an integral part of the British way of life.

Take the case of Visions of Ecstasy , an innocuous (if rather silly) short film depicting 'the ecstatic and erotic visions of St Teresa of Avila' which was banned in the UK in 1989. In the film, St Teresa is first seduced by her own sexual psyche (played, conveniently, by a photegenic 'babe'), and then mounts and caresses the crucified body of Christ. Technical shortcomings notwithstanding (hands which seem to move freely despite apparently being nailed down) the film raised a problem for the BBFC, which is forbidden from classifying material which may infringe the laws of the land.

Despite support from the likes of Derek Jarman, the BBFC concluded that, if prosecuted, a 'reasonable jury' was likely to convict Visions of Ecstasy as blasphemous. Not to be defeated, director Nigel Wingrove (who has since helmed the cult nuns-on-heat romp Sacred Flesh ) took his case to the European Court of Human Rights , arguing that the very existence of a blasphemy law contravened the freedoms of expression enshrined in the European Convention of Human Rights. In a mealy-mouthed ruling, the Court agreed that Freedom of expression constitutes one of the essential foundations of a democratic society , but with the caveat that freedom carries with it duties and responsibilities including a duty to avoid as far as possible an expression that is, in regard to objects of veneration [i.e. religion], gratuitously offensive to others and profanatory . Which effectively meant that Wingrove was allowed his freedom of expression unless such freedom offended his Christian peers. In which case, he wasn't...

Visions of Ecstasy remains the only film to be banned in the UK solely on grounds of blasphemy. Yet the issues which the law raises remain a very real concern. Having successfully transformed itself from an autocratic censorship body into one of the most accountable regulators in the world, the BBFC now rightly prides itself on maintaining a fine balance between the liberal principles of its own classification guidelines and the rigid inflexibilities of certain aspects of the law. In the case of Martin Scorsese's The Last Temptation of Christ (1988), for example, pre-release protests from Christians alleging blasphemy resulted in the board screening the film to 28 representatives of the UK's major churches, who concluded that it 'was not blasphemous in the legal sense, although it may have the capacity to offend some Christian viewers'. An 18 certificate was duly awarded.

Despite the clean bill of health, some local councils went ahead and banned The Last Temptation of Christ anyway. The furore followed the movie onto TV, where its transmission provoked a record number of complaints. Similar protests attended the classification of Dogma (1999), a religious satire staring Matt Damon and Ben Affleck as fallen angels, which provoked a deluge of pre-printed mail shots from sections of the Catholic church demanding that the BBFC ban the movie. The board refused, a decision in which it was supported by the office of the Archbishop of Westminster which went on the record to say that Dogma was not blasphemous. Still the protests continued.

Less well-rehearsed are the rare cases of cult and 'special interest' movies which have been cut in order to comply with our blasphemy laws. Trash maestro John Waters may have entered the mainstream with multiplex-friendly fare such as Hairspray, Cry Baby and Serial Mom, but his early underground film Multiple Maniacs (1970) is still considered legally unpassable in its complete form thanks to a scene in which Divine makes nefarious use of a rosary intercut with the Stations of the Cross. More bizarre still is the case of a hardcore sex video which was submitted to the board last year, featuring sacrilegious dildos being placed where the sun doesn't shine by 'women role playing as nuns'. The video, which was duly cut 'in accordance with the Blasphemy Act 1698', rejoices under the charming title Belladonna: My Ass is Haunted . And no, that's not 'Ass' in the biblical sense of the word.

While there's no doubt that such material is potentially extremely offensive (to me, at least), should we really retain a law which privileges the sensitivities of Christians over those of others? The Last Temptation of Christ may have been reclassified in 2000 to a more lenient 15 certificate, but Visions of Ecstasy remains banned in the UK to this day, a situation which the BBFC cannot rectify as long as the offence of blasphemy remains on the statute books. In the wake of the recent rebellion regarding proposed legislation on religious hatred, which, it was claimed, threatened artistic and democratic freedoms, has the time not arrived to repeal Britain's outdated blasphemy law? Only then will we have an even playing field in which freedom of speech is genuinely sacrosanct, and all religions (and their critics) are granted the same level of protection in the UK.