Every once in a while a film arrives which causes great controversy around the world, and in some cases, the film ends up being banned. This is a list of the top ten films that have caused controversy – and, in fact, many of them are still controversial to this day.
10. Last Tango in Paris [Bernardo Bertolucci, 1972]
The Story: While looking for an apartment, Jeanne, a beautiful young Parisienne, encounters Paul, a mysterious American expatriate mourning his wife’s recent suicide. Instantly drawn to each other, they have a stormy, passionate affair, in which they do not reveal their names to each other. Their relationship deeply affects their lives, as Paul struggles with his wife’s death and Jeanne prepares to marry her fiance, Tom, a film director making a cinema-verite documentary about her.
The Controversy: Critics and audiences were sharply divided over this X-rated erotic psychodrama. The film’s stark (as in naked) depiction of loveless, animalistic carnality horrified some — and landed its director and stars in an Italian court on obscenity charges.
9. Natural Born Killers [Oliver Stone, 1994]
The Story: The misadventures of Mickey and Mallory: outcasts, lovers, and serial killers. They travel across Route 666 conducting psychadelic mass-slaughters not for money, not for revenge, just for kicks. Glorified by the media, the pair become legendary folk heroes; their story told by the single person they leave alive at the scene of each of their slaughters.
The Controversy: Though intended as a satire on the media, the film actually inspired several copycat killers to seek their own 15 minutes of fame, some even using imagery and dialogue from the film. Over 12 murders in the U.S. and abroad have been linked to Killers. One victim’s family tried to sue Stone and Warner Bros.
8. The Birth of a Nation [D W Griffith, 1915]
The Story: Two brothers, Phil and Ted Stoneman, visit their friends in Piedmont, South Carolina: the family Cameron. This friendship is affected by the Civil War, as the Stonemans and the Camerons must join up opposite armies. The consequences of the War in their lives are shown in connection to major historical events, like the development of the Civil War itself, Lincoln’s assassination, and the birth of the Ku Klux Klan.
The Controversy: The film’s depiction of African Americans as childlike, conniving, or rabid sex fiends, and the Ku Klux Klan as heroic saviors, sparked nationwide protests by the nascent NAACP. (It also became a KKK recruiting tool.) Censorship debates and protests have dogged the film in subsequent rereleases and when it was added to the National Film Registry in 1993.
7. The Last Temptation of Christ [Martin Scorsese, 1988]
The Story: The carpenter Jesus of Nazareth, tormented by the temptations of demons, the guilt of making crosses for the Romans, pity for men and the world, and the constant call of God, sets out to find what God wills for him. But as his mission nears fulfillment, he must face the greatest temptation: the normal life of a good man. Based, not on the Gospels, but on Nikos Kazantzakis’ novel of the same name.
The Controversy: Religious fundamentalists picketed and threatened boycotts weeks before its release. One group offered to buy the $6.5 million film from Universal to destroy it; some theaters, and later Blockbuster, refused to carry it. Oh, and the French rioted.
6. JFK [Oliver Stone, 1991]
The Story: Details the actions of New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison, who takes it upon himself to investigate the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in Dallas, Texas, in 1963. Garrison is extremely suspicious of the official story presented by the FBI, and what he already knows and what he subsequently learns lead him to suspect that there is more to the story than the public is being told.
The Controversy: Some saw Stone’s documentary-on-steroids-like interpretation of those theories as lending them a certain patina of truth — raising fears that moviegoers would construe it as bona fide history. One result: a 1992 congressional act to release classified documents (which revealed nothing).
5. Deep Throat [Gerard Damiano, 1972]
The Story: Linda, frustrated that her hugely energetic sex life leaves her unsatisfied, seeks medical help. The doctor informs her that the reason for her problem is that her clitoris is mistakenly located at the back of her throat – but there is a very simple remedy, which the doctor, and various other men, proceed to demonstrate…
The Controversy: Intellectuals championed the film for striking a blow for First Amendment rights, while conservative leaders got it banned in many places and put Reems on trial for obscenity charges. Lovelace herself later denounced the film, claiming that while filming “there was a gun to my head.”
4. Fahrenheit 9/11 [Michael Moore, 2004]
The Story: In this film, muckraker Michael Moore turns his eye on George W. Bush and his War on Terrorism agenda. He illustrates his argument about how this failed businessman with deep connections to the royal house of Saud of Saudia Arabia and the Bin Ladins got elected on fraudulent circumstances and proceeded to blunder through his duties while ignoring warnings of the looming betrayal by his foreign partners.
The Controversy: The documentary lit the fuse of right-wing America, detonating protests and hate campaigns to ban it (no dice). Moore was the first to break the post-9/11 moratorium on Bush bashing and set off a season of brutal smack-downs among the Bill O’Reillys and Keith Olbermanns of the world.
3. Salò [Pier Paolo Pasolini, 1975]
The Story: Set in the Nazi-controlled, northern Italian state of Salo in 1944, four dignitaries round up sixteen perfect specimens of youth and take them together with guards, servants and studs to a palace near Marzabotto. In addition, there are four middle-aged women: three of whom recount arousing stories whilst the fourth accompanies on the piano. The story is largely taken up with their recounting the stories of Dante and De Sade: the Circle of Manias, the Circle of Shit and the Circle of Blood. Following this, the youths are executed whilst each libertine takes his turn as voyeur.
The Controversy: The film caused outrage throughout the world when it was released in 1975, and has proved a hot potato for film certification boards. In Britain, the first cinema to screen an uncut version of the film in 1977 was raided by police. A heavily cut version was shown until six years ago, when the British Board of Film Classification agreed to reclassify the movie.
2. A Clockwork Orange [Stanley Kubrick, 1971]
The Story: In a futuristic Britain, a gang of teenagers go on the rampage every night, beating and raping helpless victims. After one of the boys quells an uprising in the gang, they knock him out and leave him for the police to find. He agrees to try “aversion therapy” to shorten his jail sentence. When he is eventually let out, he hates violence, but the rest of his gang members are still after him.
The Controversy: That the movie first landed an X rating and was deemed pornographic across the U.S. was nothing compared with its reception in the U.K.: Social uproar and reports of copycat crimes led Kubrick to withdraw Clockwork from distribution in his adopted country. It wasn’t officially available there again — in theaters or on video — until 2000, a year after his death.
1. The Passion of the Christ [Mel Gibson, 2004]
The Story: The Passion of The Christ focusses on the last twelve hours of Jesus of Nazareth’s life. The film begins in the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus has gone to pray after sitting the Last Supper. Jesus must resist the temptations of Satan. Betrayed by Judas Iscariot, Jesus is then arrested and taken within the city walls of Jerusalem where leaders of the Pharisees confront him with accusations of blasphemy and his trial results in a condemnation to death.
The Controversy: Gibson’s intention was to produce an unflinching depiction of Christ’s suffering on behalf of mankind. What resulted, however, was the ignition of a culture-war firestorm unrivaled in Hollywood history. For months prior to its release, The Passion was both denounced and defended sight unseen amid reports that the film wasn’t just brutal, but compromised by anti-Semitic sentiment. Gibson refused to let concerned parties view and vet his self-financed film.
Notable others: Cannibal Holocaust
Sources: Entertainment Weekly, IMDB, the Guardian
Technorati Tags: movies, controversy
I can’t belive that Cannibal Holocaust did not make the list. That film is sick.
This is a better list: http://www.squidoo.com/top-10-most-controversial-…
In my opinion that is.
However, I can see why you put the films you did on the list. That butter scene with Marlon Brando was pretty shocking.
I also can’t understand how clockwork beats salo.
rp: thanks for the mention of that film – it certainly does seem to still be banned. Now I want to see it! I have added it to the notable others section.
I have recently found the movie uncut (On youtube. You’d think it would be banned there.) and I must say, It is certainly graphic. Some scenes I question the need (Such as the infamous turtle scene, or the slicing of the monkeys face, which took 2 tries to get correct). Honest opinion, It was an alright film, but I’d say the most controversial part in my opinion is it’s length in it’s most vile scenes, so when watching it, get ready to watch that horrible scene for 6-12 minutes straight. Here’s a link! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErnHx2kqYHU&feature=related
Cannibal Holocaust almost got its director thrown in jail and, I believe, is still banned in several countries.
Why did the French riot, re: The Last Temptation of Christ?
Was it their turn?
They are French
The French didn’t riot. What happened was: a group of christian fanatics set fire to some cinemas in a couple of cities, succeeding only in killing some people.
My friend purchased Cannibal Holocaust at FYE. It’s not banned (here, now), but it is definately controversial.
RobS: it is always the French’s turn to riot – they are experts
kelsi: Have you seen it? I wonder how it compares to Salo – I watched some clips of that on youtube yesterday and it turned my stomach – disgusting.
Another cool list. I would add as a notable exception “Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story.” It is one of the very few films – if not the only one currently – that is actually banned in the United States. It is a fairly creepy biography of Karen Carpenter using nothing more than Barbie daolls to act out all of the parts. The ban stems from legal action taken against the film-maker for things he insinuated in the film about the rest of the Carpenter family, if memory serves. almost nobody saw this film, but it stands out for its outlaw status.
Bill: I have heard of a Carpenters film being banned – I guess that must be it. I liked the one about her life which did make it to TV.
The French didn’t riot when this came out – most of them yawned if i remember correctly.
A couple of fundamentalists did fire-bomb a cinema screening it though. A terrorist act, surely, a riot? I think not.
Archive news footage (in french)
Sorry about the ridiculously long link.
che: thanks for that
I own both Cannibal Holocaust and Salo, and I do agree that CH should be on ethis list.
the director was forced into court and made re create every death scene to prove it wasnt real
Amazingly enough he used only material that was available to him in the jungle. the infamous ‘impaled woman’ was done with nothing more then a hallow stick and a bike seat.
CH is a very rich story and commentary on how we in ‘civil’ view ourselves in comparison to other less advanced cultures. Where as Salo is mainly shock value.
i think Flowers of Flesh and Blood ( http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0161635/ ) should be on the list.
After viewing a portion of this film, actor Charlie Sheen was convinced the murder depicted was genuine and contacted the MPAA, who then contacted the FBI. FBI agent Dan Codling informed them that the FBI and the Japanese authorities were already investigating the film makers, who were forced to prove that the special effects were indeed fake.
Really? Flowers Of Flesh And Blood? I’ve never seen it but I’ve seen a few others from the series.
They are all very over the top arent they?
Midian:I felt sick watching clips from Salo – would I cope with Cannibal Holocaust?
inanytime: that is an amazing story. Do you have any citations to verify Sheen’s action?
jfrater: it was hard for me to get through Salo as well, not so much because it was shocking but because it is very boring, CH however I feel is a sort of masterpiece.
Give it a look, the gore is very intense, it also has real animal torture and murder. I think youd be able to cope with it, if only for a one time viewing. haha
Midian: what a recommendation! I will see if I can find a copy and check it out
Thanks.
You can get Superstar: Karen Carpenter at Google video.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=622130510713940545
billy: brilliant – thanks!
Another one that has been banned for sale here in the US is Song of the South (by Disney). In it, supposedly, slavery is glorified, which was why it was banned. Of course, it was Disney, so things were not depicted as brutally as slavery was, but, more importantly, the movie was set in post-Civil War America, so there wouldn’t have been any slavery to glorify/not glorify to begin with. Great animation with live action, and a true classic. It really is a bit of a shame it has such a bad rap.
Charles Everett – thank you for mentioning that – I will see if I can find a copy – it sounds interesting.
No “Freaks”?
SCUM is also one, 1977 in the UK I think, included a full male child rape scene and suicide. Much controversy at the time. Good film actually.
Hobolad: I haven’t seen Freaks – I will try to find a copy.
Jay: Scum is a great film – well worth the mention.
I forgot – Once Were Warriors. Again, great film.
jay: great film!
“The Passion of the Christ” that was weird, to say the least. I’ve read all new testament accounts of Jesus’ passion and it isn’t anything like TPOTC. The movie was ten times more gory.
dave4248: The Passion of the Christ was not based on the Gospels alone – it was also based upon Catholic visionary saints from the Middle Ages – Saints who have the approbation of the Church (thus for the majority of Christians in the world) – to be expected considering that Mel Gibson is a very staunch Catholic.
Please remember, not all Christians believe in the Catholic (Catholic/Anglican/Episcopalian) model.
He was merely stating why the film may differ from the Gospels. As it was told by a man who is a Catholic one would expect the film to be told based on Catholic’s beliefs.
i think men behind the sun pretty much fits into the cannibal holocaust description. there have been rumours that at least one scene was filmed with an actual corpse. it tells the story of gruesome experiments (like dr. mengele of auschwitz concentration camps did) from a japanese perspective with the Nanking massacre as a background. turns my stomach to even think about this one.
“I Am Curious – Yellow” should make your list due to its controversial premise. And it was considered *****ographic because it contained nudity and a simulated oral ***** act.
“I Am Curious – Blue” was intended as a sequel, but is a bit more fun.
http://worldfilm.about.com/cs/scandinavianfilm/fr/iamcurious.htm
I believe both films are available through Criterion.
SoCal Tom: thanks for mentioning them – I haven’t seen either of the two so I will definitely add it to my (ever growing) list of recommended films
when i first saw “birth of a nation” years ago, i did not know what it was. my history/social studies teacher came in the classroom and asked the class, “have any of you seen ‘birth of a nation’?” a few other students raise their hands. he told them to keep quiet about the movie. he put the movie on, at first, i could not really understand it, but as it kept going on, the message of the movie became clear. the superiority of the aryan race. 1915 was a time of racial changes in the south. the major majority of the united states population was white. african-american and other races were not ever 5% combined the population. this movie was accepted by white southerners on the basis of truth, while it was largely ignored by northern white men too busy runnin their businesses and making cities like new york and chicago into the metropolis they are today. when african-americans protested in 1915, it was largely shrugged off, as a midget protest in new york city would be shrugged of today as a joke. my how times have changed, have this vile of a film been released today, people would have lost their jobs, d.w. griffith would have recieved so many death threats to himself and his familiy’s life that he would have had to either cancel the release of the movie of release it strictly overseas. but, you were right frater, we cannot ignore history or we will be doomed to repeat it. while this movie may only be viewed with heroism with rednecks from texas to viginia, the content of this film should serve as a reminder to the future of this great country, for as long as ignorance is allowed to roam free, so will this film remain as timeless as the holy book, to those who allow ignorance to prevail.
*Virginia. Normally, I wouldn’t correct people on spelling mistakes, but it looked like you needed it.
I would have to say Cannibal Holocaust definitely should be on this list. Blurring the lines with reality with some great “acting”, animal mutilation can see why director got locked up.
luckaz…. glorifying the clan for oppressing and terrifying black people… that’s almost as bad as holding six kids up as heroes of the black community for commiting a hate crime by beating the crap out of a white kid jsut because he was white. The only diference is that one was a movie, and the other was in real life! Thank goodness for apologists like yourself to make sure that white people aer percieved as spineless and non-threatening.
I don’t believe he was condoning the views of the film, but expressing the importance of the film as a piece of history; as a sort of view into the mindset of that time for those people.
I think ‘Waterworld’ and ‘Battlefield: Earth’ should be on this list.
The Controversy: Both film incited movie-goers worldwide to want to kill Kevin Costner and John Travolta and anyone who had anything to do with making of those films!
Mount teetar: Didn’t that kid provoke his attack by hanging nooses on a tree in a courtyard? I’m white and I would’ve kicked the ***** out of that redneck bastard!
Here’s the wikipedia version of that story. The Jena Six.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jena_Six
read, the kid was asking for it.
lightningclash – “he was asking for it”…are you *****ting me?..isn’t that what rapist’s use as a defense for their rapes? ‘i’m sorry your honor, she was wearing a tight skirt so she was asking for it?’
that has to be the biggest load of crap ever, and completely regardless, you can steal a man’s wife, get him fired from his job, make his kids hate him and just about anything else to someone but if he shoot’s and kills you its still murder, it doesn’t matter what you did to them…
I don't completely agree with what these six people did. It's wrong to attack somebody, I will admit. BUT hanging nooses from a tree is a HATE crime. These white kids were the majority in this particular high school. This is a form of racial bullying if you ask me. Racism makes me sick and I'm sorry if it's wrong, but I have to cheer for these six kids. It's great to see them stand up against the bullying white kids and give them a taste of their own medicine.
Don’t neglect that racism is universal. The act which those six kids committed was just as much racial bullying as hanging nooses. A kid hanged nooses, so he gets killed for it? And you excuse it by saying it was a taste of their own medicine? Even calling it “great”? That’s racism right there.
I have to agree racism goes both ways. To me I feel like that people tend to excuse black people for it and that they get by with it a lot easier than white people do now. Which is not fair! If that situation had of been the other way around no one would of been saying that the kid asked for it. If the kid has been black and did something considered racial bullying and 5 white boys killed him, then it wouldn’t of mattered what the black kid did in the first place. No one would dare say he was asking for it. So just goes to show you how things have definitely changed. When a guy goes in and shoots up a school b/c he was bullied by the kids, and he kills those kids that bullied him, do we say Oh, well those kids deserved it? No..What I am afraid is going to happen is that one day soon white people are going to end up being black people 50-60 years ago. Is anything ever going to be equal? I mean for goodness sakes we have a black president now. How can people still want to play the race card all the time?
Fando y Lis is another very controversial movie. It caused riots in Mexico.
*lightningclash*
probably too late, and is off-topic – but the kid who was beaten in the `Jena Six’ case had nothing to do with an ALLEGED hanging of a rope from a tree – which is not proven to have happened.
This whole `Jena Six’ issue was just the left-wing noise machine attempting to drown out the blowback from the Duke rape case (another product of the left-wing noise machine) – and successfully, as it turns out.
So no, no one ever `provokes’ a near-deadly assault on themsleves, no matter what they did or didn’t do previously.
The controversy behind Fahrenheit 9/11 was not that it was a Bush-bashing film (many on the Right bash Bush), the problem is that it was full of lies and misleading information.
I think that Pretty Baby (1978)is in my opinion the most controversial movie. This is movie that, shocked and p!ssed a lot of people off in the late 70's (People are still trying to ban it today) Staring Brooke Shields and Susan Sarandon.
plot outline: 1917, the last months of legal ***** in Storyville – New Orleans' red-light district. Hattie, a prostitute at the elegant home of Madame Nell, and her 12-year-old daughter Violet are the only ones awake with photographer Ernest J. Bellocq comes by with his camera. He takes pictures of Hattie and he fascinates Violet. Over the next few months, Nell arranges for the auction of Violet's virginity, Hattie marries and goes to St. Louis leaving Violet behind, and Violet determines to marry Bellocq. Is this idyllic or is she just a girl wearing rouge, soon to return to childhood?
***Warning this is a very Graphic movie***
Yes I think “Pretty Baby” should of been on this list, along with “Bastard out of Carolina”, the abuse physical and *****ual, in that movie on a very young child were graphic and shocking. Another movie that some people found shocking was “Lolita”, the original as well as the remake, but to me Pretty Baby and BOOC were worse b/c the victims were a lot younger. You have a 10 or so year old in PB and BOOC compared to a 14-15 year old in Lolita. However all of them are pretty shocking!
Why no “Midnight Cowboy”? First “X” rated movie to win an Oscar.
Lolita. Death Race 2000. Rollerball. Fight Club.
There are plenty more; limiting the list to 10 was a mistake.
Passion of the Christ is hardly the most controversial movie ever. Did it cause riots? No. Birth of a Nation did. I say move Birth of a Nation to the top!
great list Jamie, well done, once again:)
i expected da Vinci Code to be on, but after reading this list, i see why it isn’t…
you’re hardcore baby…
I think Zeitgeist Movie is along the same lines as Fahrenheit but a lot more controversial.
Can be found at zeitgeistmovie.com. sorry, should have been with first post
lolita
Salo is pretty boring. The parts that are not boring are horrendous. The interesting thing about this film is it’s political, not *****ual and the director was killed shortly after it’s completion. Considering the ending looks too real for words, makes you wonder about his untimely death. Salo was the first in a trilogy that was never completed because of Pasolini’s death.
The Criterion Collection is releasing this film…again. God knows why anyone would want to pay money for it. It’s easier to get a bootleg copy offline.
I think this list is for controversial films that caused something, Cannibal Holocaust is banned yes, but it didn’t apparently start a media firestorm and backlash of real human protests and copycat crimes, after all the director of ‘Salo’ was brutally murdered. ‘Irreversible’ is one of the most disturbing and hard to watch films of all time. But controversy is not the same thing as disturbing, unflinching, and hard to watch. Controversy is about protests and media firestorms. Cannibal Holocaust is on the top 10. disturbing side. But hell another version of this list had ‘Song of the South’ and ‘Pink Flamingos’ as the top most controversial ; even a film like ‘Kids’. There are numerous films that have caused an uproar. ‘A Clockwork Orange’ / ‘Salo’ and ‘The Last Temptation of Christ’ appear on almost every incarnation of a list like this, CH is interchangeable with ‘Song of the South’ / ‘I am Curious’ and many others, depending on who is writing the list. CH was brought into court. And Monica Bellucci apparently at press junkets for ‘Irreversible’ had to explain to press that she wasn’t raped. (Although that doesn’t make it controversial just graphic and disturbing, *amazing compelling unflinching film though* I never remember reading any protesting) There is a list somewhere online somewhere of the top 100 most controversial and CH is in that one’s top 10 plus many more that would deserve the same either way. And Salo is no less shock value than any other noted film. It’s survived for so long under the guise of compelling and not shocking the same as the Marquis de Sade’s work has, most consider it *****ography, other’s reel satire. + no one sells shirts from Salo to sensationalize the disturbing factor as they have of Cannibal Houlocaust branding it in the shock value category even if it really isn’t. The same difference with ‘American Psycho’ the novel. Films like this are meant to mean something deeper than shock value. ‘The Last House on the Left’ (Virgin Spring in the Vietnam era
Salo isn’t worth seeing read the books it’s easier to understand the *****ual metaphors but all in all it’s just graphic pointless to watch and dated
Nobody mentioned Caligula!!
Caligula!!
There
It’s been mentioned, now what?
I watched Salo with my mum.
Really, I did.
The guy at the video store was impressed.
And that’s really what it’s all about isn’t it? Impressing the guy at the video store.
I didn’t think Salo was boring.
What’s that Polish filmaker that had a scene with guests at a dinner table making themselves puke what they had just eaten and re-eating it?
Truely disgusting.
Dusan Makavejev, that’s his name. I had to look it up.
Mondo Cane was a legendary controversial movie.. and quite a hit in its day. I believe the score won at the oscars. The Cane Movies may have lead to the “Faces of Death” videos.
Controversial, confrontational, picking at scabs or going into areas that are deamed as “outside the norm”ect
Makes me think of Borat. that also got a nod and had a large effect on the U.S. film crowd. How did Borat do worldwide? I know leaders of Kazakhstan were *****ed off..
Or how Jackass made mainstream cinema before Borat. MTV.
How difficult is controversy today?
It seems , at certain times, like anything fringe or disturbing is welcome fodder for the masses, because entertainment culture is inundated with overused and unoriginal imagery bombardment. It’s not only with entertainment, but with individual attempts at “enlightened” existence
Blah blah
ect.
p.s.
I see Mondo Cane was nominated for Best Music, Original Song at OSCARS,
and best score at GRAMMYS
but really who cares?
i think my number one pic would be DA VINCI’S CODE
it was band for some countries… and it was really criticized so much…
Good list
Deep Throat sounds vile…
I definately think Nekromantik should be here
A German banned film about a guy who cleans up after road traffic accidents
Whenever he sees a corpse that he ‘likes’ he takes it home for he and his wife to have threesomes with
I actually watched it and it is rather vile and VERY graphic.
Also at the end, he kills the cat and takes a bath in it’s blood for some reason
i expected to see the davinchi code up their.