I was expecting my next discs but they have yet to have arrived so I have decided to review a documentary that is on BBC Four tonight.
Time Shift - Dear Censor is an excellent documentary on the correspondence between the BBFC and film directors. It demonstrates how society's attitudes change and how the film censors have to cope with the responsibility of determining what the boundaries in taste and decency are.
Rebel Without a Cause, one of my favourite films, was one of the first to feature because they felt the parenting skills of James Dean were poor and could negatively influence society. This seems ludicrous in today's films but clearly an issue of the time.
I was surprised there was no real mention of censoring homosexuality (the Celluloid Closet is a better resource for this). Women in Love was the nearest but was more focused on the first male full frontal nudity.
BBFC developed its role to allow potentially offensive films, such as the haunting but excellent A Clockwork Orange, to receive approval because they are a work of art. As a committed libertarian, I agree no organisation should limit films just because the majority of the population would be offended.
This principle was particularly tested with Salo or the 120 Days of Sodom, which is the most disturbing film I have ever seen. But the correspondence with Pier Paolo Pasolini made the excellent point that it is a film to 'turn off' abuse rather than 'turn on'.
I was very interested in more recent films, such as Shortbus, which have pushed the boundaries again. However, we are not allowed to see any correspondence from the last 20 years so I hope the BBC will do this again to uncover the concerns of more modern classics.
I really enjoyed this step back in time and it gives a good grounding in the history of film, how society has changed and how governments deal with controversy in art.
If you have access to BBC iPlayer, I highly recommend it.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/
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