BBFC- British Board of Film Classification

'The British Board of Film Classification is an independent, non-governmental body which has classified cinema films since it was set up in 1912 and videos/ DVDs since the Video Recordings Act was passed in 1984.'

In class we watched a video on the BBFC (www.bbfc.co.uk) and learnt about the rating process of films and why.

Films are rated on:

• Violence and bad language 
• Sex and nudity
• Taste and decency 

Violence examples:

'Casino Royale' The James Bond film directed by Martin Campbell is rated at (much to my surprise) a 12A. However, this is because in the torture scene (which I analysed back in September http://elliebunce.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/casino-royale-camera-shot-analysis.html) we never see the actual whipping (we just see Le Chiffre swinging the rope and James Bond's reactions).

'Die Hard 4.0' The American action film directed by Len Wiseman is rated at a 15. This was because in scenes, such as the one where Bruce Willis is fighting the female, the sounds affects make it more violent and exaggerate the fight scene. 

'The Last King of Scotland' The British drama film based on Giles Foden's novel and directed by Kevin MacDonald is also rated at a 15. This is because the gruesome context of the film is very realistic to what actually happened e.g Dr Nicholas Garrigan (played by James McAvoy) being hung by his skin. Here we see the brutal pain he is under and the blood which make the scene naturalistic. 

Bad language examples:

'Four Weddings and a Funeral' The British romantic comedy directed by Mike Newell featured so much swearing it had to be made a 15.

Sex and nudity examples: 

'Titanic' is rated a 12A. The romantic tragedy directed by James Cameron only features one scene of nudity, this is when Kate Winslet (playing Rose DeWitt Bukater) asks Leonardo DiCaprio (playing Jack Dawson) to draw her. In this scene we only nudity we see is Kate Winslet's breasts as she lies down to be drawn.

'Team America' In the American action comedy film, directed by Trey Parker, there is a sex scene where both characters are unclothed, however, because they are puppets the film could only be rated a 15. 

Taste and decency examples:

'Borat' The 'mockumentary' comedy film directed by Larry Charles starring Sacha Baron Cohen was rated at a 18 in cinemas but 15 on DVD. This is because of the irony of the film and context which could be taken as racism but is so extreme to create comedy value. 

I watched the 'Wild Bill' trailer (click here to watch) and guessed it to be a 12 due to the swearing, drugs and some violence which make it unsuitable for a PG or U, however, I didn't think the violence and bad language was enough to push it to a 15. The trailer was actually a 12A and the film is a 15.