To what extent have legislative controls enabled or restricted film production?

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To what extent have legislative controls enabled or restricted film production?

Since cinema emerged as an entertainment medium, it has been and is still to this day, exceedingly popular with audiences the world over. Such a mass entertainment form can obviously have a large influence over audiences, and this is surely the reason that cinema has been subjected to much Government and trade legislation and censorship over the past century. In particular, the British film industry, on which I have chosen to concentrate, has shown various examples of legislation that has both helped and hindered the production of film in this country.  In looking at legislation, I have found there are two major areas; censorship legislation, and financial legislation.

One of the first major steps in film censorship was the forming of the BBFC (The British Board of Film Censors, which later changed its name to The British Board of Film Classification). Established within the industry itself, as described on the BBFC website, its purpose was to be ‘a means of ensuring uniformity for film classification decisions’ (BBFC, Timeline, n.d). As an independent body from the Government, it stopped the confusion of certain films being shown in some cinemas but banned in others (Dickinson & Street, 1985). Although non-compulsory, local authorities were encouraged to go by its classifications, which still stands today. The standard guidelines involved cutting or banning films on grounds such as indecorous dancing and the materialisation of Christ (Robertson, 1985), and this shows just how much attitudes to morality in film have changed. If they had not, modern films such as Dirty Dancing (Ardolino, 1987) and The Passion of the Christ (Gibson, 2004), to give just two of thousands of possible examples, would be considered highly inappropriate on the above grounds. Over the years, it introduced various certifications for film exhibition, such as ‘H’ in 1932, to indicate a horror theme, and ‘X’ in 1952, to indicate a film with adult themes. These would eventually develop to become the classifications we know today: U, PG, 12A, 15 and 18.

Understanding what was and was not acceptable in the period a film was made can give a lot of information on the film’s values and message. In her dissertation, Burrows (1997, p. 8) discusses a film entitled Love on the Dole (Baxter, 1941), which caused problems for the BBFC in 1936, which was rejected due to it being ‘a very sordid story in very sordid surroundings’ (Richards, 1984, cited by Burrows, 1997 p.9). The film deals with working class life during the Depression, and particularly unemployment. Its bleak outlook could well have contributed to the reasons it was rejected on many occasions. During these years, authorities would want citizens to stay positive, and releasing such a film would have been considered demoralizing, and this added to the language and violence in the film made it even more open to being blacklisted. The film was eventually released in 1941, when unemployment had become less of a relevant issue. This case study shows how the state of society can affect the way films are censored, and this will be reflected in the period’s film output – for example, in a time of war, films released would be positive and forward-looking, with patriotism at the forefront of their themes.

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A mid-century film that shows how society has an effect on censorship is The Wild One (Benedek, 1953), although this was an American film it caused controversy to censors here. In the 1950s, Britain was experiencing the era of the ‘teenager’ – before this, youth culture had been limited, if barely existent at all. This included the ‘Teddy Boys’, rebellious youths who were ‘often described as gangs and considered to be “ready to rumble”’ (Moore, n.d). The Wild One dealt with issues of anti-social behaviour and violence, although in today’s desensitised society, they seem tame compared to the extreme violence in films such ...

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