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Artisan Prefers No Rating to ‘Requiem’s’ NC-17

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SPECIAL TO THE TIMES

Artisan Entertainment claims its film “Requiem for a Dream” has become the first victim in the ongoing political feud between Washington and Hollywood over the rating and marketing of adult-oriented films to underage audiences.

Artisan planned to release director Darren Aronofsky’s film unrated in New York’s United Artists Union Square and Loews’ Lincoln Square theaters Friday, after it lost its appeal to the Motion Picture Assn. of America, which had rated the film NC-17 for sexual content. But the owners of those theaters thwarted that plan by requesting Artisan state on the film’s print advertisements that no one under 17 would be admitted in the theater. An unrated film does not carry that ban.

Artisan said the Loews and UA theater chains are reacting to Washington’s outrage at marketing violent films to children and the ripple effect it has had on the studios and exhibitors. Loews said that is not the case, insisting the decision is part of a year-old policy to make sure that underage audiences are not admitted to inappropriate films. UA representatives could not be reached for comment.

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But Artisan chief Amir Malin believes the anti-Hollywood climate has had an impact on “Requiem,” which opens in Los Angeles on Oct. 20. The film, which stars Ellen Burstyn and Jared Leto, deals with the impact of drug addiction.

“With the heightened attention to movie marketing brought on by the recent [Federal Trade Commission] hearings, exhibitors seem to be overcompensating by taking remedial measures to alert moviegoers when a film contains sexually explicit and graphic scenes,” Malin said.

Malin noted that the company stood behind the film, but added “in this instance, we agree with the request being made of us but are very concerned about the precedent this sets and the looming de facto censorship that hovers about us.”

Asked why Artisan would refuse the rating but agree to the theaters’ request, the company said it boils down to a matter of principle. “Our issue with NC-17 is that this label puts an inappropriate stigma on the film,” a company spokesman said.

Marc Pascucci, Loews’ senior vice president of marketing, said the policy will affect all theaters in the chain showing “Requiem for a Dream.” “This is really the first NC-17 movie that we have had to deal with since ‘Showgirls,’ ” Pascucci said. “I can’t respond to Artisan’s position about the Washington ripple effect. But what I can say is that with or without what’s happening in Washington we would have requested that they do this anyway.

“Our industry was already under scrutiny in the political arena after the killings in Columbine [Colo.]. Our decision on this film is not a knee-jerk reaction to what is happening now.”

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Producer: ‘A Cold Climate of Censorship’

But “Requiem” producer Eric Watson said the exhibitors’ decision reflects “a cold climate of censorship that is blanketing this nation.” While he lauded Artisan for releasing the film without an MPAA rating, he noted that the film “was not labeled for violence, but rather for sexuality.”

Two weeks ago, the Directors Guild of America branded the NC-17 rating an “abject failure” and called for an overhaul of the MPAA rating system. That request came as MPAA President Jack Valenti wielded the efficacy of the 32-year-old system as the industry’s key defense in Washington’s attack on marketing violent films to children.

When compared to other films in the marketplace, some critics say the MPAA branding of “Requiem” exemplifies why the system is subjective and unfair. They point to other current films that depict graphic sex and or violence--some cloaked in comedy--that have managed to dodge the NC-17 bullet--among them “The Cell” from New Line Cinema and “Scary Movie” from Miramax’s Dimension Films. These films were rated R.

In “Requiem,” two nude women appear to be having sex in an arena while a group of well-dressed men cheer them on. However, graphic scenes of drug use, violence and a character losing his arm were not mentioned as reasons for the rating.

“Requiem” director Aronofsky said the sex scene was meant to show “the destruction of the human spirit in an effort to feed an addiction. The character Marion [Jennifer Connelly] has lost everything, including Harry [Jared Leto], the man she loves, to drug addiction.

“The sex is implied but you don’t actually see it. What you see is two women shot from above, the crowd and her face. Her eyes tell you she is already dead inside. This is far from erotic. It is tragic.

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“This kind of stuff happens every single day in this country. And that’s the point. It shows the depths of what humanity will go to feed an addiction. This film is a morality tale about abuse and addiction and what happens when it becomes too much of your life.”

Asked about the NC-17 rating for “Requiem,” Valenti defended the rating and the MPAA system. “Every time a film is rated NC-17 we hear that the rating was unfair. We’ve heard every excuse, every comparison imaginable,” he said. “The fact is Artisan appealed the ruling and the decision was upheld by 11-1. [Twelve people vote on the MPAA ratings board.] That is practically unheard of, so the system works.”

But Richard Jewell, associate dean of USC’s film school, sees two issues circling “Requiem.”

“The first is that the NC-17 is a failure the MPAA won’t admit. It was an attempt to take the edge off the X rating but it never worked. The problem is it does require a subjective vote and sometimes you have films like ‘Requiem,’ where a scene has a specific function in the context of a story that’s meant to illustrate a point and is not there just to be gratuitous.

“The second issue speaks to marketing and whether adult films are deliberately being marketed to a PG-13 crowd because they know teenage boys, their biggest audience, don’t want to see PG-13 movies,” he continued. “They know they can get them hooked into seeing it.”

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