THE DREAMERS / ****(NC-17)

Ebert writes: "The movie is rated NC-17, for adults only, because of the themes and because of some frontal nudity. So discredited is the NC-17 rating that Fox Searchlight at first thought to edit the film for an R, but why bother to distribute a Bertolucci film except in the form he made it? The sexual content evokes that time and place. The movie is like a classic argument for an A rating, between the R and NC-17, which would identify movies intended for adults but not actually pornographic. What has happened in our society to make us embrace violence and shy away from sexuality?"

He seems to agree with me that we need to reclaim some sort of rating for films that should be made, but seen only by adults. As I reflect on this, maybe the only way to make that work is to insert a rating in between R and NC-17. That way, reactionaries can still rail against the "pornographic" NC-17 rating (It's just X in a new wrap!!), the studios can market R to everyone and a few films will be made that appeal to adult sensibilities. And kids won't be able to see them. Until the DVD comes out.