The Story of O, a French language film dubbed into English, has been passed ’18’ for cinema exhibition. The film was a ‘cause célèbre’ when released in the 1970’s and was refused a certificate by the BBFC when first submitted in a cut version in 1975. The version now classified by the BBFC has been pre-cut by approximately eight minutes and is five minutes shorter than the version rejected in 1975.
The film, whose theme is sado-masochism, is very much a work of its time. Much of the action is conveyed by the facial expressions of the characters. Explicit detail, in the present version, is avoided. The main female character, the ‘O’ of the title, is throughout free to withdraw her participation in the events portrayed. The Board is satisfied that the film falls within its published Guidelines for ‘18’ rated films.
The Board has, however, concluded that The Last House on the Left is not suitable for cinema exhibition because of the explicit and sadistic sexual violence contained in the film. This is the second time that The Last House on the Left has been refused classification by the BBFC. The present version is some four minutes longer than the version offered in 1974, but is still several minutes shorter than the original uncut version. Although the recent resubmission was of a cut version of the film, it was still found to contain elements which are unacceptable under the Board’s published Guidelines. The Board asked for further cuts to remove images of the horrific stripping, rape and knife murder of two women. The option of making additional cuts was offered to the distributor in May 1999 and in September they confirmed that the film would be resubmitted with further cuts. After much delay it is now clear that the distributor has declined the option to proceed further. The Board is therefore unable to classify the film in this version.