The Last Days of the Board is yet another documentary about the BBFC. It was first shown as part of Channel 4's Censored week way back in 1999. The documentary is about the time at the BBFC when long time censor and director James Ferman left. James Ferman was director of the BBFC at an incredibly difficult time the Child's Play 3 scandal and Michael Hungerford Rambo incident all took place at his time of chief censor.
The documentary is well made and features some key figures, including Ferman himself. The film starts with teenagers describing the most gory films they have seen from films: "I saw this film where a guy gets his head ripped off and you see his spine come out" or words to that effect. A good start. The film then discusses the inner working of the BBFC such as a typical day of what is rated, titles such as: "Pregnant and Milking 5" to "William's Wish Wellingtons". The film mentions what would have been censorship milestones at the time: "The Idiots", banned film "Boy Meets Girl" and we hear about how "In Dreams" was classified 18. "Batman Forever" is mentioned as being cut to obtain a PG certificate for cinema. This is all interesting stuff for viewers interested in film censorship, but probably not for most audiences. I've seen several documentaries on censorship and the BBFC and this is not a must see, but it is well worth a go.
The documentary is well made and features some key figures, including Ferman himself. The film starts with teenagers describing the most gory films they have seen from films: "I saw this film where a guy gets his head ripped off and you see his spine come out" or words to that effect. A good start. The film then discusses the inner working of the BBFC such as a typical day of what is rated, titles such as: "Pregnant and Milking 5" to "William's Wish Wellingtons". The film mentions what would have been censorship milestones at the time: "The Idiots", banned film "Boy Meets Girl" and we hear about how "In Dreams" was classified 18. "Batman Forever" is mentioned as being cut to obtain a PG certificate for cinema. This is all interesting stuff for viewers interested in film censorship, but probably not for most audiences. I've seen several documentaries on censorship and the BBFC and this is not a must see, but it is well worth a go.
