Julian Schnabel, offbeat artist and the director of The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, is currently battling with the MPAA over the rating of his new drama, Miral. The film, which stars Slumdog Millionaire’s Freida Pinto centers on a Palestinian orphan who gets caught up in the conflict of the first Arab-Israeli War. Apparently, Schnabel’s take on the conflict was too much for the MPAA to handle.
The MPAA, which has previously drawn ire for its questionable NC-17 rating on Blue Valentine, has given the drama an R rating for “some violent content including a sexual assault,” but Variety notes that Schnabel finds, “that R rating is unduly restrictive and significantly limits the film’s ability to open a dialogue with young people about Israeli/Palestinian relations, the importance for peace in the region, and choosing education over violence.”
While the Weinsteins have recently re-cut their R-rated King’s Speech in hopes of snagging younger audience members, Schnabel and producer Jon Kilik are ardently appealing the decision, hoping to get a PG-13 rating after a second review. There’s no word on what scene(s) in particular are the cause of the MPAA’s R-rating, and Schnabel and Kilik seem utterly perplexed by their decision. Schnabel admitted he set out to make a PG-13 movie, and Kilik has released a statement saying:
“The challenge for me as an independent film producer is to preserve impact and emotion, while at the same time respecting the guidelines of the MPAA rating system. Our film is able to successfully achieve this without one frame of graphic sex, violence or language–not one curse word, no blood, no skin.”
Sadly, this could prove to be another example of the standards of the MPAA being woefully outdated. Here’s hoping Schnabel and Kilik will be successful in their appeal and won’t have to face the decision of whether to cut for a wider audience, or be cut off from a wider audience.
What do you think of the MPAA? What changes would you suggest to their methods?