Axelle Carolyn and Neil Marshall share their thoughts on the BBFC
Widowed Audrey retreats to an isolated Welsh cabin after a failed suicide attempt, to recuperate. Still haunted by the tragic death of her husband and struggling with her psychosis, she begins to hear strange noises.
To celebrate the release of Soulmate on DVD today, The Fan Carpet had the opportunity to talk to Axelle Carolyn and Neil Marshall and before we post our full interview with them, we wanted to share their thoughts on the well publicised cuts that were required for reasons the BBFC cited as “imitatable technique”...
Axelle Carolyn: Absolutely, and the BBFC has a great role to play when it comes to gauging what’s acceptable for children. But the fact that they could also dictate what other adults should or shouldn’t be allowed to watch is censorship - pure and simple. If the film had been simply categorized as an ’18’, I would have already been surprised, because there really isn’t much in there to justify it. But at least I could understand that their intent was to protect children. Over ‘18’ as the old saying goes, “If you’re old enough to go to war, you’re old enough” to watch Soulmate. Now to ban the movie in its uncut form is ridiculous. Now that we’ve cut out the offending scene altogether, we’re getting a 15 classification for ‘strong violence and gore’. If anybody who’s watched the movie can tell me which violent and gory moments justify a ‘15’ when something like The Woman In Black got awarded a ‘12A’, I invite them to let me know through Twitter.
Neil Marshall: Absolutely. So long as they’re denying us the viewer the freedom of choice to view such artistic endeavours as they were meant to be seen, then they are nothing but censors. What you suggest is a decent compromise. Make two versions of the film - one that is deemed ‘safe’ and one that is totally uncensored for those who wish to seek it out. I understand the need to prevent children from seeing certain movies, and as such certification makes sense as a guideline.
What doesn’t make sense is cutting a movie to fit a certificate it clearly wasn’t meant for. I’m sure for some producers/studios the bottom line is reaching the widest possible audience, and they therefore don’t mind the odd snip here and there. But when a film is clearly designed, as Soulmate is, for people who are trusted to drive, to drink, to vote, to raise children, to fight in wars, and generally make informed adult decisions on a day to day basis, but then are not trusted to watch a scene in which someone attempts suicide in case they should decide to imitate that behaviour, then there is something very wrong with the BBFC, and it’s high time they had a serious rethink.
Our full interview will post later today, so stay tuned to The Fan Carpet!
SOULMATE IS OUT TODAY ON DVD FROM SODA PICTURES