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Tuesday, March 24, 2009

See No Evil: Banned Films Throughout the World



After my last post about Cannibal Holocaust, I was curious as to how many movies have actually been banned. After countless hours of hard-focused research (Wikipedia.org) I have found records of movies banned from all countries. So I thought I would share some that I found interesting! 

We'll start here in the United States.

1908: "The James Boys in Missouri" and "Night Riders" are banned in Chicago
1915: "The Birth of a Nation" banned in Chicago, Cleveland,Pittsburgh, and St. Louis
1917: "Birth Control"
1919 -1920: "Within Our Gates" banned in Chicago, New Orleans, and Omaha for depliction of interracial rape, lynching, and racial discrimination
1926: "The Red Kimono" banned in Chicago
1928: "The Racket" banned in Chicago
1931: "Frankenstein" banned in Kansas for cruelty
1932: "Scarface" a gangster movie set in Chicago, banned in Chicago
1936-1966: "The Maltese Falcon" 1931 Version
1945: "Scarlet Street" banned in New York
1949: "Pinky" banned in Marshall, Texas for portrayal of an interracial couple
1953: "The Moon is Blue" banned in Jersey City, New Jersey as indecent and obsene
1961: "Victim" banned in many cities due to language
1968-1991: "Titicut Follies" is banned for violation of privacy of prison inmates it filmed
1969: "I Am Curious(Yellow)" is banned as pornography
1984: "Silent Night, Deadly Night" banned after protest from the Parent-Teacher Association
1987: "Superstar:The Karen Carpenter Story" is banned for copyright infringement
1988:"The last Temptation of Christ" is banned in Savannah
1997: "The Tin Drum" banned in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma as Child Pornography
2002: "The Profit" banned involving legal matters

IRAN

Any film depicting Homosexuality, Gay Rights, or anti-islamic attitudes is banned outright in Iran

1956: "The king & I"
1968: "Oliver!"
1971: "A Clockwork Orange"
1973: "The Exorcist"
1977:"Saturday Night Fever"  ??????
1980: "Cannibal Holocaust"
1982: "The Dark Crystal"
1983: "Scarface"
1989: "Pet Sematary", "Glory", and "Back to the Future 2"
1990: "Henry & June"
1993: "Schindler's List"
1994: "The Naked Gun"
1995: "Showgirls"
1997: "Boogie Nights" and "Liar, Liar" for portraying adultery as being legal
1999: "South Park:The Movie", "Three Kings", and "Anna and the King"
2001: "Zoolander" seen as provoking Gay Rights
2002: "Pinocchio" ??? and "Cowboy Bebop:Knocking on Heaven's Door" 
2003: "Bruce Almighty" and "Matrix Revolutions"
2004: "Fahrenheit 9/11", "Catwoman", "Passion of the Christ", and "Harold & Kumar go to White Castle"
2005: "The 40 year old Virgin", "Sin City" and "Brokeback Mountain"
2006: "The Da Vinci Code", "Alexander", "Talladega Nights", "Borat", and "300"
2007: "The Kingdom"
2008: "Meet the Spartans", "You don't mess with the Zohan"

SWEDEN

1922-1972 : "Nosferatu" 
1981: "Mad Max"
1984-1999: "Cannibal Holocaust"
1997: "Texas Chainsaw Massacre:The Next Generation"

CHINA

1960: "Ben-Hur"
1994: "To Live"
1997: "Kundun" regarded as Tibetan nationalism is banned outright along with director Martin Scorsese
1997: "Seven Years in Tibet" banned outright along with actors Brad Pitt and David Thewlis for life
2000: "Devils on the Doorstep"
2005: "Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life"
2006: "Memoirs of a Geisha" over concerns it could rouse anti-Japanese sentiment
2006: "Brokeback Mountain" for Homosexuality
2006: "The Departed"
2006: "Over the Hedge"
2007: "Pirates of the caribbean: At World's End

Malaysia has banned more films than any other country. While Afghanistan, Argentina, Brazil, Denmark, Hellas, Portugal, Romania, Samoa, Switzerland, and Zimbabwe have only banned one film each in their history. 

Cannibal Holocaust has been banned in more countries than any other film.

Check Wikipedia.org for a full complete list of banned movies.

8 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Monster: I deleted the above post for a typo (I hate that). Didn't Sweden ban "ilsa, She-Wolf of the SS" as well? Thanks for becoming a Beloved Reader of my blog. I like your stuff and have returned the favor. -- Mykal from Radiation Cinema!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Ooops, just answered my own quesion - It ws Norway and Germany that banned the horribly glorious - Ilsa. My thanks for your becoming a reader stays the same. -- Mykal

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