The 18 certificate is issued by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) to state that, in its opinion, a film or video recording should not be seen or purchased by a person under 18 years old.
As with other British film certificates, the 18 certificate theoretically only has advisory power for films shown in public cinemas, with the ultimate say being held by local authorities. In practice, the local authorities tend to follow BBFC rulings in all but a few exceptional cases.
For video sales, the BBFC rulings have statutory power, as under the terms of the 1984 Video Recordings Act all videos sold or distributed within the UK must either be given a certificate by the BBFC, or ruled exempt by them. Uncertificated recordings are not legal, regardless of content.
The 18 certificate was created in 1982 as the successor of the previous X certificate, which in turn was the successor of the H certificate (with H standing for "horror"). See History of British Film Certificates for more details.
Typical reasons for restricting films to the 18 certificate category have included scenes of drug-taking, supernatural horror, explicit sex, sadistic violence, and sexual violence -- the last two of which have often led to a certificate not being issued at all, effectively banning the film in the UK.
Sex and the 18 certificate
Until recently, 18 certificate films could not contain the depiction of actual sex acts -- indeed, for a long time, the Obscene Publications Act made these depictions illegal. With the loosening of British restrictions on the depiction of sexual acts, the R18 certificate was created to allow the sale of these films in sex shops. Although the BBFC allowed the depiction of simulated sex scenes in 18 certificate films, actual sexual acts were still not allowed to be depicted in 18 certificate films until recently.
Even now, this is still unusual, and the granting of an 18 certificate for these films appears to be on the basis that these films' artistic merit justified the depiction of sexual acts that were a small part of, but integral to, the film.
This precedent appears to have been set when the BBFC granted 18 certificates for movies containing short scenes of unsimulated sex, such as Catherine Breillat's Romance (in 1999) and Patrice Chereau 's Intimacy (in 2001).
In October 2004, a new precedent appeared to be set when the BBFC granted an 18 certificate for Michael Winterbottom's movie 9 Songs, which, whilst of undoubted artistic merit, featured a number of lengthy explicit scenes of unsimulated sex.
As of 2004, a review is in progress of the classification and regulation system, and the BBFC is currently being challenged by video distributors to award 18 certificates to material which currently falls under the R18 guidelines. It is unclear whether this marks the end of the distinction between the 18 certificate and the R18 certificate, or whether the BBFC will continue to apply an "artistic merit" test to distinguish between films which are acceptable for 18 certificates and those which receive only R18 certificates.
Violence, horror, and the 18 certificate
- to be written
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