When a film is hit with an NC-17 rating, we usually don’t worry about it because most filmmakers and studios make the necessary cuts to get an “R” rating. Although, in the case of Ang Lee’s latest film Lust Caution, it appears that the people behind the film and the distributor Focus Features are not interested in appealing the dreaded NC-17 rating they received recently.
The Hollywood Reporter gives us this:
“Lust” follows a young Chinese woman in Japanese-occupied Shanghai during World War II who becomes the center of a plot to seduce and kill a married enemy collaborator. The trailer for the subtitled Chinese-language film shows lead actors Tony Leung and Tang Wei in various states of writhing passion. The MPAA ratings board cited the film’s graphic sexuality for its decision. A source said too many of the film’s sex scenes violated the ratings board’s unwritten rules (like the number of allowable pelvic thrusts, for example) to make an appeal possible.
Focus CEO James Schamus, who co-wrote the screenplay, said he is accepting the rating “without protest. When we screened the final cut of this film, we knew we weren’t going to change a frame,” he said. “Every moment up on that screen works and is an integral part of the emotional arc of the characters. The MPAA has screened the film now and made its decision, and we’re comfortable with that.”
Honestly, I respect the risky decision the filmmakers and distributor are making by taking a stand and not making the movie rated R. All the time we see filmmakers jeopardize their vision, just so the film can make more money at the box office.
I have no problem with this decision, and would actually prefer to see them stick to their guns and release the original cut with the NC-17 rating if that is how Ang Lee envisioned his film to be. But then again, that’s just my opinion on this matter. What are your thoughts?
