Film Studies - Introduction

BBFC stands for The British Board of Film Classification. They are a non-governmental organisation, which are responsible for classifications and censorships of British films. The BBFC were founded and established in 1912 (but did not begin operating until 1^st January 1913), where the headquarters were situated in London. The BBFC classify films through age restrictions, starting from U – Universal (being the youngest audience and suitable for pretty much anyone, with no bad content which was unsuitable for them). The second classification is PG, which stands for Parental Guidance. This informs viewers that the film in question may not be suitable for young children without a parent or guardian watching it with them, as there may be mild language and references to unsuitable content – violence, sex and drugs. 12A and 12 are two separate classifications, but are the same as 12A is only used in the cinema where as 12 is used in home media (DVDS etc.). These films are considered to be unsuitable for young children and it is recommended that no one under the age of 12 should watch the films, unless an adult accompanies them. These films usually include sexual violence (implied) or briefly indicated. The next classification is 15. No one under the age of 15 is legally allowed to watch films of this age rating; this is because of the large use of adult themes – like sex references, strong violence and strong language. The final major classification of films is 18, which is only recommended for people of the age of 18 or over. Films of this classification usually include a lot of strong language, sex/sexual references and scenes and nudity.

The common classifications for Horror films are usually 15 or an 18. This is because the film may be too scary or intricate for a younger audience to watch or interpret. In a lot of horror films, there is a lot of violence, death and gore, which wouldn’t be suitable for a young child to watch as it might lead for the child to copy violent scenes or language that is used in the film. It may in some cases lead to the child not being able to sleep and developing a mental disfiguration.

An example of a controversial film is Life of Brian, which was released in 1979 with the classification 15. Explicit references are made throughout this film which relate to the life of Christ and as this film is of the comedy genre, it is seen to be it is making fun of religion and Christianity, so much so that The Church and particular religious groups accused the film of blasphemy and attempted to get it banned as they felt it was offensive to their religion and beliefs. While it did get released, the film was banned in several British councils and it wasn’t until 2009 that the Welsh town of Aberystwyth lifted their thirty-year ban on the film.