eensorxhip. is outraged h_\ this attitude. ‘Britain has the most restrietixe elaxsil'ieation s} \lc‘ltt in the Western \Vorld.‘ he say. "l'he BBl-‘C \Vere ne\ er appointed to he our moral guardians: our tttot'alit} ix none ol‘ their
huxinesx. I think it's a eotnplete and utter
hlood} eheek. lrankl}. It‘s like ho\\'dlet'i\ing Shakespeare utterly ahxurd. It's a monumental imposition.‘
llth is a View shared h_\ lirie Sehilp. managing direetor ol' Dangerous To Know. the film produetion eompan} responxihle l‘oi' I’rlxlt.
'll~ people are old enough to drink themselxes into aleoholixm or smoke themselxes into lung eaneer. then the} are old enough to \Vtthll a film ahout \otttehod) \\ ho
is totall} amoral and hits lotmd a \\a} ol'
dealing with that in lll\ prix'ate and \e\ual lil'e.‘ Seltin say in det‘enee ol lll\ lilm. 'l aeeept that it's had l'or younger people. hut let‘s not xa} that t145-}c‘;ii'-ti|tl man still ean't \xateh the lilm. That is the nann_\ state gone mad.‘
British eensorxhip eotild well he ali\ e and kieking. loll/u. (Tux/i and Ki.»th ma} ha\e heen passed unetit. hut ’l'lit' liton‘lxi a lilm \Vhittam Smith has ne\'er seen and '/'/n' ’li'tm ('lminxmr .lluxmt'n' languish \\'llllt)lll a
\ideo eet'til‘ieate. .\lean\\‘hile. Henry: l’o/‘Imil ()lfl'l Serial Killer ltitx ottl_V just eome out on \ideo. eight wars alter its llt‘sl \tthtttt.\\tott to
the Blll‘f. hating endured two minute\ ol
eutx attd t'e-editing.
\Vhat‘x more. thing\ aren‘t looking good lor popping down to Bloekhuxter and pieking uP Lolita in a ten monthx‘ time: the BBH‘ are strict \Vllll material on \ideo \x'hieh eould he upsetting to ehildren. \xho ha\ e more ehanee ot' xeeing it in the tamil} home. .-\\ked \\ hether he \\ ill pass the lilm t‘or \ideo. \Vhittam Smith replies. '11 \xon't he eats} ‘.
'I‘ruinx/mlling is held alol't il\ a shining eelluloid amhaxxador ol Britain‘s ettltttre llttltl\ll'_\. )et it would appear that in \Vllill eould he \een as a l'ttrther e\ample ol' the RBI-(“x moralixing ideolog} it onl} got a \ ideo release heeau\e a junkie gets .-\ll)S attd a hah_\ diex. ‘What \a\e\ [Ii/'(llllX/lU/Ilillg’ is its ltotte\l} it \lto\\\ the UN ol- :ttltltc‘tiotn \;t_\\ BBH' direetor .lamex l'erman.
.\'ahoko\\ n_\mphet ma_\ ha\ e hit our \ereenx intaet. hut. as a whale. \\ e \lltlllltl take eare not to stiller the death ol‘ a thousand L‘ltl\.
Lolita goes on general release on Friday 15 May.
What the censor saw: (clockwise from top left) the Exorcist, Henry: Portrait Of A Serial Killer, Crash, Frisk, Kissed , The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 and Lolita
. THE Lisr7 .