Censored

We're back! And how could we stay away when the gorgeously restored Director's Cut of Ken Russell's long-suppressed 1971 classic "The Devils" is in cinemas? In this, our first video episode (!!!), we revisit our impressions of the film, discuss the restored footage and the controversies that led to their initial omission, and reflect on the challenges of discussing a film like "The Devils" at a moment in which the algorithm has never been more censorious.Come for the ecclesiastical yearning and nunsploitation, stay for the nuanced theology and prescient critique of the modern bureaucratised state.Featuring your stalwart hosts, Dr Aoife Bhreatnach and Dr Lloyd Meadhbh Houston, this double-feature also incudes our original discussion of the 1971 British X cut from December 2023. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In our last (for now) episode, we chat to John Kelleher who was appointed Irish film censor in 2003. When he left in 2009, the Irish Film Censor's Office had been renamed the Irish Film Classification Office, a reform that reflected how it had become, as John says 'more guide dog than guard dog'. Until the pod returns, thanks to everyone for listening!A & LM xx Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Censors have been replaced by classifiers, opaque silence by annual reports. We read recent annual reports from the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) and the Irish Film Classification Office (IFCO) to see how those offices work in a digital media age, and to see what the (complaining) public thinks of their role. Films mentionedMinions: the Rise of GruGhostbustersWatership DownBambiStar Trek the Motion PictureNutcracker (by Matthew Bourne)The BatmanBatman ReturnsA Man Called OttoThe Banshees of InisherinSaltburnCocaine BearBenedettaBBFC 2022 Annual ReportIFCO published reports Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This remarkable neo-noir, directed by Abel Ferrara, has never been certified by the Irish Film Classification Office (the new name for the censor’s office). Aoife and Lloyd Meadhbh are joined by author Rob Doyle to discuss how Abel Ferrara and Zoe Lund, with backgrounds in porno sleaze, made a sincere film about redemption, and forgiveness.Bad Lieutenant dir. Abel Ferrara, starring Harvey KeitelRob Doyle Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In Sam Peckinpah’s film, standard Western tropes – outlaws, heroes, beautiful landscape – are used to interrogate an exhausted genre. He knows spectacular gunfights are problematic but did the cut version shown in Ireland convey Peckinpah’s intent?The Wild Bunch, dir Sam Peckinpah, starring William Holden, Ernest BorgnineSupport us and Merch! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

One of Martin Scorsese’s favourite films and guess what? We agree, it’s brilliant. Contemporary audiences detested it, preferring to ignore why they derived pleasure from realistic, filmed torture and terror. This film has everything from Freudianism to a Hitchcock doppelganger. Cuts made by censors might be lost forever but it still shocks and gives us a perfect amount of ick.Peeping Tom (1960) dir. Michael Powell, starring Karlheinz Boehm, Anna Massey, Moira Shearer Psycho (1960) dir. Alfred Hitchcock, starring Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh.  The Red Shoes (1948) dir. Powell and Pressburger, starring Anton Walbrook, Moira Shearer. Support us!And, Merch Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A horror fan (Lloyd Meadhbh) and not-a-horror fan (Aoife) agree that this unexpectedly feminist film did not deserve to be banned twice in Ireland. Caveat: Roman Polanski directed it.Rosemary’s Baby (dir. Roman Polanski) starring Mia Farrow and John CassavetesMerch!Support us on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ties, suits and sex - Paul Schrader's exploration of consumerism and Richard Gere's hotness was pruned of bad language and "sex scenes" by the Irish censor.American Gigolo (1980, dir. Paul Schrader) starring Richard Gere, Lauren Hutton, Bill Duke, Hector ElizondoYou Must Remember This on American Gigolo More on Aoife's Gere-athon for Patreon supportersMerch! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What’s the worst celluloid crime committed in The Evil Dead: excessive violence or Bruce Campbell’s fringe? Lloyd Meadhbh (a fan) tries to persuade Aoife (a sceptic) to embrace this video-nasty classic. Also, listener correspondence on The Rocky Road to Dublin.The Evil Dead (dir. Sam Rami, 1981) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083907/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_6_tt_8_nm_0_q_evil%2520deadEvil Dead II (dir. Sam Rami, 1987) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092991/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_7_tt_8_nm_0_q_evil%2520dead%2520Weird Studies Podcast on ‘Evil Dead II’ https://www.weirdstudies.com/136Support us, if you can Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lloyd Meadhbh rewinds the tape back to the 1980s, when a new film medium caused a new (ish) moral panic. Support usMerch Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.