Hello
I have never complained about anything in my life, but this has 'woken me up'! I have emailed the BBFC, time to tell our moral guardians that real life nature is far more violent than any movie! The email is below:
To whom it may concern
I have never felt the need to complain about any of your decisions, although I do find some of them baffling but the decision released yesterday to cut 5 Seconds from Dario Argento’s INFERNO surprised me so much I felt I had to contact you. I realise that there is an Act of Parliament which outlaws the mistreatment of animals for cinema (but I also understand that this does not apply to private viewing) but the scene in question shows a cat eating a mouse – which I don’t mean to sound sarcastic but isn’t that what cats do? I have a cat which regularly kills birds, mice and other rodents and although it is distressing it is after all the natural thing for a cat to do. Does the board have any proof that that scene was deliberately staged? After all this film was made 30 years ago and filmed abroad. This decision to me is as baffling as cutting 70 – 80 year old cowboy movies for horse falls or other films that passed with no cuts years ago but now find themselves cut because of ‘modern’ attitudes?
I agree in the past that the BBFC has cut such films as ‘CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST’ justifiably because of the shocking, cruel way in which animals were exploited purely for shock value but ‘INFERNO’ in my opinion does not fall into that category of film. It is in my opinion it is a valid work in the genre of horror and is no way exploitative in the same sense as other cannibal films from the 70’s.
I feel this decision and some of your policies (not Acts of Parliament) are now becoming an hindrance to the UK DVD industry at a time when margins are becoming ever tighter and also puts off companies from releasing these films (and, no I don’t work in the industry!) which deprives film fans in this country from enjoying films which would never see the light of day. It forces people to buy their DVD’s from abroad, from countries where there is no censorship.
It is my opinion that the days of censorship from the BBFC is now redundant; with, as I mentioned the ability to buy DVD’s from abroad and of course illegal downloading which potentially exposes people all sorts of dangerous material. I realise you are legally bound by the VRA and unfortunately have to put up with headline-grabbing politicians, so called morality campaigners and the lunatic fringe of the right wing press but this decision belongs in an other age. It is not right that companies in this country can have their products tampered with in this fashion, after all if I bought a book that had a few pages removed I would feel cheated and demand my money back. I feel that this also applies to film.
In closing, I urge you to reconsider this decision. I would also urge you to reconsider your policy on the treatment of animals, I think there is a huge difference between the repulsive sight of animals being mutilated purely for kicks and material showing natural interaction between an animal and it’s prey. If the BBFC’s policies were applied to television then we would never see any wildlife programmes as they often depict animals fighting and killing each other. I’m a firm believer that people over the age of 18 should be free to choose what they want to watch in the privacy of their own home, within the law of course. With the greatest of respect, I don’t need the BBFC to decide what I can and can’t watch, I feel that I am old enough and mature enough to make that decision on my own.