A PETER JACKSON MOVIE that saw Carlow actress Saoirse Ronan pick up a BAFTA nomination was the most complained-about film in Ireland and Britain last year.
The Lovely Bones, an adaptation of the 2002 novel by Alice Sebold, saw the Irish actress play a teenage girl who watches from the afterlife as her family and friends come to terms with her rape and murder.
Jackon’s film, which was released in Ireland in February 2010, was given a ’12A’ rating by both the Irish Film Classification Office (IFCO) and the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC).
IFCO today confirmed to TheJournal.ie that the film was also the most complained-about offering in Ireland too – being responsible for four of the 14 total complaints received by the office last year.
In Ireland the film was originally given a 15A rating, later downgraded to a 12A upon appeal by its distributor. IFCO’s listing for the film noted that the film depicted “child abduction and murder” with “strong scenes of violence and its aftermath”.
The Daily Telegraph today states that the BBFC’s annual report, published yesterday, also saw the film top the complaints rankings, with many viewers feeling the scene featuring Ronan’s death was more akin to an 18-rated film than a 12.
The film garnered 24 objections in the UK, the BBC adds, compared to the four it prompted in Ireland.
The BBFC noted that the film’s content placed it “right on the borderline” between a 12 and a 15 certificate, but that it had opted for the 12A rating because the film “lacked any explicit detail of the murder” and had included other positive messages about the nature of life and death.
The other films that drew public complaints in Ireland were flop Twilight spoof Vampires Suck (three complaints), The Other Guys (two), Precious, Percy Jackson & The Lightning Thief, Is Anybody There, Predators and Piranha 3D.
Other films that drew complaints included in the UK were Kick-Ass, where viewers complained of the language used by the young female superhero, and Toy Story 3 which some felt was too dark to be awarded a Universal certificate.
