Slumdog Millionaire Gets Rated R?! What!? Posted on Wednesday, October 22nd, 2008 at 2:31 pm by: Peter Sciretta Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire is the type of film that will have everyone leaving the theater with both tears and a smile. It’s a beautiful film about first love, fate and destiny, and growing up in the slums of India. When I saw the film at the Telluride Film Festival last month, Alex from FirstShowing commented to me that the reason why there is no blood shown in a critical scene that involved a gun (not a spoiler, don’t worry), is because the film will be released PG-13. And that reasoning made complete sense to me. There were a couple instances throughout the film when the camera cuts away before any graphic violence is show. There is no nudity (aside from a little kid running to the shower). It iss a film that would appeal huge to teen audiences, if Fox Searchlight could somehow trick them into buying a ticket. But apparently the MPAA thinks otherwise. The MPAA gave the film an R-Rating “for some violence, disturbing images and language.” I call bullshit. Fox Searchlight should have taken this one to the appeal process. If Two-Face in The Dark Knight got a PG-13 rating, than Slumdog should have been awarded a PG. It’s a shame that Searchlight didn’t want to take the extra time to fight this one out. I’m guessing that Fox are more concerned with getting the rating on the posters as soon as possible, so that they can meet the November 12th release date. You see, Searchlight also has to market Darren Aronofsky’s The Wrestler (out in December). And both films need to hit theaters by the end of the year for Award consideration.. They have given both films just enough separation to do so properly. But the lack of time before the release probably prevents an appeals process from happening. Just my own speculation. But it does make sense, right?
http://www.slashfilm.com/2008/10/22/slumdog-millionaire-gets-rated-r-what/ 'Slumdog Millionaire' Gets An R Rating, There Goes The All-Inclusive Feel-Good Vibe And Possible Oscar Nod? Danny Boyle's surprise hit of the year "Slumdog Millionaire," was pegged to corner the "Little Miss Sunshine"/"Juno" feel-good indie market this fall. Unfortunately it has been blind-sided by the MPAA which recently gave the film an R rating, which will most likely shut it out of the success that "Juno" enjoyed and potentially jeopardize its Oscar contention. The soccer-mom oriented MPAA must have been turned off by the gross non-white characters that dominated the film, and thought a movie set in the slums of India would just to be catastrophic if witnessed by the teens of America. 'Slumdog' has its tough moments, but is certainly in no way deserving of an R-Rating and a PG-13 at worst. It's practically a family, feel-good film! (but done by Boyle, it's still aces, and probably the most exhilarating film we saw the Toronto Film Festival). The company producing the film, Fox Searchlight, is apparently not going to go through the appeals process to challenge the rating since it wants to meet the November 12th release date. We hope this rating doesn't sink the already slim chances the film had of connecting with a mainstream audience, because the film certainly has an uphill battle in its near future and it's deserving of so much more. http://theplaylist.blogspot.com/2008/10/slumdog-millionaire-gets-r-rating-there.html SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE GETS SCREWED BY THE MPAA * By Devin Faraci * Published Yesterday * News * Last night I saw Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire and was blown away. It's beautiful and romantic, sad and tragic, stunning and moving. It's a Dickensian classic that does the greatest thing cinema can do: it transports you into the life of someone else and lets you see and experience part of the world you would otherwise never know. And beyond all of that it's also compelling entertainment. It's also a movie that I would recommend for teens. It's tough in spots, so is life for the children of India's slums. Boyle doesn't flinch from the gritty, ugly aspects of grinding, serious poverty, but he also never rubs our faces in it. The film could serve as a way to help younger people understand the scope of extreme poverty in ways that Children's Aid commercials never can. And the movie's uplifting message of hope won't leave them depressed, but rather feeling that there's a way to change the world. So of course the MPAA gave the movie an R. This has happened again and again over the years - movies that are perfect for teens that don't whitewash the realities of the world get slapped with a restrictive rating that guarantees they can never see it. There's no nudity in Slumdog Millionaire, and there's no explicit sex. There's some violence. There's lots of tonally grim stuff. There's some harder language. But it's all true. Slumdog isn't a documentary, but the lack of reality doesn't change the basic truthfulness of the film. I'm disappointed that Fox Searchlight didn't make a bigger stink about this impending rating - the film deserves a PG-13 because it deserves to be seen by people 13 and older. If this was a book aimed at teens, it would be lauded for its truthfulness and educational value. Instead because this is a movie it gets slapped down with a rating that ensures it will never be as widely seen as it should be. http://chud.com/articles/articles/16755/1/SLUMDOG-MILLIONAIRE-GETS-SCREWED-BY-THE-MPAA/Page1.html
