Nc-17 Rating Can Stir Up Controversy - As Well As The Box Office

Is the NC-17 rating just an X that goes by another name? Does it apply only to truly adult films, not porn? Or is it a marketing ploy that's designed to draw attention to any movie that risks getting one?

When a major movie with big stars gets slapped with an NC-17 (no one under 17 admitted), it inevitably grabs newspaper headlines as the filmmakers and the ratings board haggle over what to cut to get the more acceptable R rating (anyone under 17 must be accompanied by an adult).

The NC-17 flap this month involves three movies: Madonna's "Body of Evidence," which opened over the weekend; Louis Malle's "Damage," due Friday; and the acclaimed Harvey Keitel picture, "Bad Lieutenant," which opens Jan. 29.

All were initially rated NC-17, and the first two were cut to appease the Motion Picture Association of America and win an R rating (when they turn up on video, they will most likely be offered in both versions). But "Bad Lieutenant," which was a runner-up in year-end critics' awards for Keitel's performance, will be released as an NC-17 movie.

During the past six months, the NC-17 has been attached to half a dozen films, including "The Wide Sargasso Sea," which also has not been cut and is set to open in April as an NC-17 release.

Only two NC-17 films have been widely released. "Henry and June" played about 300 theaters in late 1990 - a poor showing for a major-studio release. Ken Russell's "Whore," which arrived in late

1991, was shown in even fewer theaters. Neither was a commercial success, although four versions of "Whore" were ultimately released to the video market, including a longer European version, a shorter R-rated edition and an R-rated tape with a different title ("If You Can't Say It, Just See It").

NC-17 was originally designed to replace the X rating, which had been attached to so many notorious films that it had become synonymous with pornography. When "Henry and June" became the first NC-17 film, many newspapers and TV stations embraced it, and Blockbuster Video, which would not carry X-rated movies, considered carrying NC-17 tapes.

Typical of the response at the time was a Seattle Times editorial that applauded the MPAA for "replacing the stigmatized X rating with the untainted NC-17 (no children under 17 admitted) rating. The wise decision serves both audiences and moviemakers. In the 22 years since the industry adopted the rating system, the X rating - which was not trademarked by MPAA - has been usurped by the pornography industry. . . . The MPAA's new NC-17 cleans up the mess. The makers of porn movies typically don't seek rating review, so they can continue to advertise with the sullied X. Legitimate movies like Universal Studios' new film about novelist Henry Miller, `Henry and June,' will receive the NC-17 rating without being lumped in with smut."

But showings of "Henry and June" were canceled almost immediately after it opened in several cities, and "Whore" faced an uphill battle just one year later. The atmosphere has changed so much since October 1990 that NC-17 is now widely regarded as equivalent to X.

Today, some newspapers, radio and television stations will not accept advertising for NC-17 films - although The Seattle Times carried ads for "Henry and June" and "Whore" and will run ads for "Bad Lieutenant," according to Marji Ruiz, vice president for advertising. "We went through a whole analysis at the time NC-17 became available, and decided it was acceptable," she said, but the artwork for a particular ad may be altered to meet Times standards.

Some other major dailies, such as the Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post and The Boston Globe, have similar policies. "As long as the presentation of the (NC-17) ad is tasteful, we will accept it," says Nicholas Cannistraro, vice president of advertising at The Washington Post.

But many theaters will not show NC-17 films, either because of chain policy or lease agreements. Plenty of video stores, most prominently those owned by Blockbuster Video, will not stock them.

Smaller distributors often choose not to apply for ratings. Seven years ago, "A Room With a View," an independent British production handled by a minor American distributor, became the first non-rated movie to be nominated for an Academy Award for best picture of the year. Such acclaimed recent films as "A Brief History of Time," "Brother's Keeper" and "Flirting" have gone out without ratings.

However, video distributors are compelled to get a rating in order to fill the requirements of some video stores. Even made-for-TV productions are now submitted for ratings when they're released on tape. Last week, the 1974 TV movie, "The Story of Jacob and Joseph" was officially rated PG when Columbia TriStar Home Video asked for a rating. About half the films on every new list of MPAA-rated movies never play theaters.

In effect, the MPAA now has a power that was never dreamed of when the board handed down its first ratings in 1968. Anyone who wants to release a movie to the theater-video-television marketplace is ultimately forced to deal with it.

However, as the controversy about "Basic Instinct" proved last year, filmmakers have been quite successful in pushing the boundaries of the R rating. Five years ago, "Basic Instinct" in any version would have been slapped with an automatic X. That it finally got by with an R rating suggests that the ratings board can be worn down, especially by a studio with a $50 million investment.

Those who have seen both the NC-17 and R versions of "Basic Instinct" claim there is little difference, and director Louis Malle says he made minimal trims in "Damage." The R-rated version of "Body of Evidence" includes explicit scenes of anal intercourse and sado-masochism.

And the debate rarely hurts the box office. Miramax Films turned confrontations with the MPAA into a marketing device, most successfully with the art-house smash, "The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover." The showdown with the MPAA over the critically lambasted "Body of Evidence" can only be a plus for Madonna's iffy career as a movie star. If this weekend's grosses are disappointing, MGM may establish a precedent by releasing the NC-17 version to those theaters that request it.

While Malle seems genuinely outraged about the MPAA's handling of "Damage," there's no question that the flap has boosted awareness of an art-house-oriented movie that is now scheduled to open in the malls.