Genitals digitally removed from Kubrick swan
song
TORONTO (AP) - The sex organs
of actors in Stanley Kubrick's much anticipated final film, "Eyes Wide Shut,"
have been digitally removed in the version opening in Canada next week. Canadians wishing
to see the film about the darker side of sexual desire will be fed the less
risqué American version rather than the original, unaltered version bound for audiences in
Europe. The decision to electronically alter the American version of the film - starring
real-life husband and wife actors Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman - has ignited a controversy
of its own. Kubrick fiercely protected his films from tampering by studio editors. The cut
of the film to be shown in Canada contains 65 seconds worth of "digital masking"
in which genitalia has been electronically covered up in a climactic orgy scene toward the
end of the film.
Los Angeles-based Warner Bros. said parts of the sex scene were blurred to
satisfy the demands of the U.S. classification system, in which most movies containing sex
or violence are awarded a Restricted rating, allowing people under 18 to see the film as
long as they're accompanied by an adult. If films exceed certain limits - for instance if
they show male genitalia - they get the dreaded NC17 label which stands for "No
Children 17 or under." Canada only has an R rating which rules out anyone under 18.
But Canadian classifiers only get to rate American movies after the original version has
already been changed.
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