THIS FILM IS NOT YET RATED (2006)

Released on this day 15 years ago was the IFC produced documentary THIS FILM IS NOT YET RATED (2006) by Kirby Dick.

Dick pulls back the curtain on the Motion Picture Association of America’s rating system in a sometimes funny, sometimes provocative and eye-opening ways. He goes so far as to hire a private investigator to see if he can find out who are the people that determine the ratings of a movie.

The ratings system grew out of the failing Hayes Code in the late 1960s, when the industry imposed code was largely seen as outdated, out of touch and a vehicle for censorship. Since then, as the documentary points out, there has sometimes been a confusing and seemingly arbitrary line between the various ratings. This has created and an interesting dance for some filmmakers with the board as they submit their films to be rated. Many filmmakers are interviewed in high profile cases of conflicts between filmmakers and the board. The film also explores how ratings are sometimes skewed on certain themes such as homosexuality.

Funny enough the film itself original received the NC-17 rating, as it is a box office killer as it limits distribution especially in a traditional sense—studios won’t release it, most theatres won’t show it, nor stores carry the title for home video.

An interesting note about the film is that it didn’t license any of the film clips it shows as some licensing agreements would have prohibited him from showing the examples of what he wanted to cite. So he went the route of fair use which allows the use of published works for the purposes of criticism, analysis and education. The films has been considered one that has opened the door for other documentarians to go down a similar road.

If watching documentaries about the film industry is your jam, then you will want to put this one in the queue...although it is one that doesn’t surface often and isn’t currently on any streaming services (however it can be found on Dailymotion).