New Orleans Film Festival: This Film is Not Yet Rated
Review by Fritz Esker
Even though I have been a movie buff my entire life, I have never given a lot of thought to the ratings board. I mean, there were times when I thought it was fickle, and I certainly realized its predilection towards awarding NC-17's for sexual content, while allowing tremendously violent films get by with R's. Director Kirby Dick directs a spotlight on the ratings board and its seemingly arbitrary practices in This Film Is Not Yet Rated, a diverting documentary that should be intriguing to both casual and fanatic film buffs.
The most interesting point leveled in the Dick's documentary is the fact that the ratings board members' identities are closely guarded secrets. In other words, there is no accountability. Their decisions can be arbitrary and senseless (Dick does an effective job of intercutting scenes that were deemed to be acceptable for an R rating with scenes that were slapped with an NC-17), yet they never have to answer for their actions because of their anonymity. In essence, they are a silent, anonymous censorship board that passes its mandates on to the rest of America.
To make the ratings board more transparent, Dick employs two middle-aged lesbian private investigators to help discover who the members of the ratings board are. Amusingly enough, they actually do identify them after logging in countless hours of surveillance.
This Film Is Not Yet Rated will not join the pantheon of great documentaries that have been released during this Golden Era of the documentary, but it is still a worthwhile, entertaining film that effectively deflates an organization that most Americans now take for granted.