The premise of this arty movie from director Bernardo Bertolucci—an American kid shacking up with two borderline incestuous French siblings in Paris—was probably enough to earn an NC-17. Full-frontal shots of Eva Green and sadomasochistic sex scenes definitely sealed the deal.
(Photo: Fox Searchlight Pictures)
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The last movie of director Stanley Kubrick’s career, Eyes Wide Shut was originally given an NC-17 rating for its nudity and sex scenes between Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise. But you can catch all the X-rated footage that didn’t make it into theaters in its unrated Blu-ray release.
(Photo: Warner Bros.)
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Hailed as one of the finest movies of Mexican cinema, Y Tu Mamá También relieved a limited unrated release in the U.S. because filmmakers knew it would have been slapped with an NC-17 rating. Blame it on the movie’s threesome between two teenage boys and an older woman.
(Photo: Good Machine)
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Director Ang Lee refused to cut down the 10 minutes of sex and full-frontal nudity from this Chinese-language thriller. “[In] America I think they are too loose on violence. I think that culturally they make an NC-17 rating equivalent to a porno movie and bad taste. I think that needs to be worked on,” Lee told Coming Soon.
(Photo: Focus Features)
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Receiving an NC-17 rating (“No Children Under 17 Admitted”) from the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) has been called the cinematic kiss of death.
It curtails how many theaters will show your movie and how much publicity it will receive, pretty much annihilating any chances at box office success.
Stacy Martin in ‘Nymphomaniac’, Angelina Jolie in ‘Original Sin’ and Elizabeth Berkley in ‘Showgirls’
(Photos: Magnolia Pictures & Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer & United Artists)
Most directors cut down their movies to get that coveted and commercially viable R rating, but a brave few refuse in protest of the MPAA’s fixation on sex and nudity… and utter indifference to violence.
Above, the movies that pushed too far for their puritanical tastes, from the smutty ’90s classic Showgirls to the raunchy bro comedy Zack and Miri Make a Porno.
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