Censorship

«Grotesque», a Japanese horror film, has been banned by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) for its unacceptable content.

According to the Board's director, «unlike other recent 'torture' themed horror works, such as the »Saw« and »Hostel« series, »Grotesque« features minimal narrative or character development and presents the audience with little more than an unrelenting and escalating scenario of humiliation, brutality and sadism. In spite of a vestigial attempt to 'explain' the killer's motivations at the very end of the film, the chief pleasure on offer in not related to understanding the motivations of any of the central characters. Rather, the chief pleasure on offer seems to be wallowing in the spectacle of sadism (including sexual sadism) for its own sake.»

Since its foundation in 1912, the BBFC has only forbidden three films from being distributed by refusing them an 18-rating. Even Michael Winterbottom's pornographic drama, «9 Songs», received such a rating in 2004. Historically, the first full censorship is very recent: in 2005, a film made of documentary sequences of executions and torture, «Terrorists, Killers and Other Wackos», was turned down by the Board.

The production company responsible for «Grotesque» is considering appealing to the decision: they were expecting a list of cuts for their project to pass the border. But the organisation has already issued a statement explaining that the movie's nonstop scenes of torture – including amputation, castration and evisceration – make it impossible to edit the film in a way which would make it acceptable for British viewers.

This decision could be the knell that dries up the exportation of gore Japanese films to Europe, which used to be limited to buffs until Hollywood tackled remakes of «One Missed Call», «The Grudge» or «The Ring».