This Film Is Not Yet Serious
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I was expecting “This Film is Not Yet Rated” to be a scathing review of the pathetic right-wing radical fundamentalist evangelical covert organisation know as the MPAA. It was a review alright. Not a critical one though. Far from it. Almost comical.
The director Kirby Dick takes a look at the MPAA group. This is the group that decides the rating of every single film that is being screened across America. All films! One would expect the groups to consist of hundreds of reviewers to watch the plethora of films that Hollywood and other indie studios churn out. Surprisingly, it consists of only a handful. But the real kicker is that these identity of these members are not public, except for their head Jack Valenti (who just retired). Nobody knows who they are. Until now.
Kirby Dick hires a couple of private investigators to find their identities. After days of following the people coming out of the MPAA’s HQ building, going thru their garbage etc, the director finally reveals the names of the members.
There is also plenty of footage of a few directors whose films were rated NC-17 by the MPAA. The problem with an NC-17 rating is, of course, no child allowed and big theatres will not screen it etc. But more importantly, it is the conundrum for the director - to cut the offending scenes or to leave the art as is it supposed to be but risk screening in limited theatres. The documentary also convincingly lays out the double standards of the MPAA. If a film is produced by a major studio, the MPAA list the specific scenes need to be cut to receive a R rating. OTOH, if the film is indie, the MPAA simply says that the “overall tone of the film” is too sexual. Thats it! (Note that sex is a big NO-NO but extreme violence is OK. Exact opposite stance of the European MPAA counterpart).
The documentary switches back and forth between the private investigators and the directors of the NC-17 films. The later is well put-together and convincing. The former is extremely childish. The investigators are incredibly amateurish. It is almost like they had no idea what in the hell they were doing (Going to a spy shop to get a camera, Kirby telling *them* how to follow a car!). I am not sure why the director picked these specific investigators. Maybe because they are lesbians. Perhaps to provide a funny angle to the documentary. Whatever the reason, it did not work for me.
Overall, “This Film is Not Yet Rated” is a good presentation. It does a wonderful job of laying down the issues with the current MPAA and their cult-like behaviour. I just wish that the “overall tone of the film” was a bit more serious.
brownGEEK’s rating 3 on 5.
