Censored Aoife Bhreatnach

Censors have been replaced by classifiers, opaque silence by annual reports. We read recent annual reports from the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) and the Irish Film Classification Office (IFCO) to see how those offices work in a digital media age, and to see what the (complaining) public thinks of their role.
 
Films mentioned
Minions: the Rise of Gru
Ghostbusters
Watership Down
Bambi
Star Trek the Motion Picture
Nutcracker (by Matthew Bourne)
The Batman
Batman Returns
A Man Called Otto
The Banshees of Inisherin
Saltburn
Cocaine Bear
Benedetta
BBFC 2022 Annual Report
IFCO published reports

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This remarkable neo-noir, directed by Abel Ferrara, has never been certified by the Irish Film Classification Office (the new name for the censor’s office). Aoife and Lloyd Meadhbh are joined by author Rob Doyle to discuss how Abel Ferrara and Zoe Lund, with backgrounds in porno sleaze, made a sincere film about redemption, and forgiveness.
Bad Lieutenant dir. Abel Ferrara, starring Harvey Keitel
Rob Doyle

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In Sam Peckinpah’s film, standard Western tropes – outlaws, heroes, beautiful landscape – are used to interrogate an exhausted genre. He knows spectacular gunfights are problematic but did the cut version shown in Ireland convey Peckinpah’s intent?
The Wild Bunch, dir Sam Peckinpah, starring William Holden, Ernest Borgnine
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One of Martin Scorsese’s favourite films and guess what? We agree, it’s brilliant. Contemporary audiences detested it, preferring to ignore why they derived pleasure from realistic, filmed torture and terror. This film has everything from Freudianism to a Hitchcock doppelganger. Cuts made by censors might be lost forever but it still shocks and gives us a perfect amount of ick.
Peeping Tom (1960) dir. Michael Powell, starring Karlheinz Boehm, Anna Massey, Moira Shearer
Psycho (1960) dir. Alfred Hitchcock, starring Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh.
 
The Red Shoes (1948) dir. Powell and Pressburger, starring Anton Walbrook, Moira Shearer.
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And, Merch

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A horror fan (Lloyd Meadhbh) and not-a-horror fan (Aoife) agree that this unexpectedly feminist film did not deserve to be banned twice in Ireland. Caveat: Roman Polanski directed it.
Rosemary’s Baby (dir. Roman Polanski) starring Mia Farrow and John Cassavetes
Merch!
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Ties, suits and sex - Paul Schrader's exploration of consumerism and Richard Gere's hotness was pruned of bad language and "sex scenes" by the Irish censor.
American Gigolo (1980, dir. Paul Schrader) starring Richard Gere, Lauren Hutton, Bill Duke, Hector Elizondo
You Must Remember This on American Gigolo
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