Since arriving in Spain, our evenings have been spent playing "Race for the Galaxy" and culling through Spanish films in search of something worthwhile to watch. We've turned up a couple of really goods ones, too. For example, I highly recommend "Mar adentro" ("The Sea Inside") with Javier Bardem. Also, Almodóvar's "Volver", which got an R in the USA (questionable rating at best). Or "Soldados de Salamina", based on the Javier Cercas novel of the same title about coming to grips with Spain's historical memory of the Civil War.
But, on the whole, we have discovered that the Spanish rating system is less of a system and more of an unstandardized collection of meaningless numbers thrown willy-nilly on the back of video boxes. Unlike the American system which, granted, has its own flaws that I will not rant about at this moment, the Spanish system simply says, "Not recommended for viewers under the age of 7 / 13 / 18".
The first film we watched, "Alatriste", is based on the historical fiction of Arturo Pérez Reverte. It's a swashbuckler film about Spain's 17th century war with the northern Protestant nations. Viggo Mortensen is in it (he was raised in Argentina and speaks fluent Spanish) and, according the rating system, is appropriate for 7 years old and up. Never mind the 2.5 hours of throat-slitting, endless fountains of spurting blood, and a couple of way-over-the-top sex scenes. But all the references to literature and art were cool.
Tonight we started watching "La educación de las hadas", starting Ricardo Darín (Argentina), who I have generally liked quite a bit. Two minutes into the film, really graphic sex scene that got the TV turned off momentarily. Five minutes later, more of the same. So that movie got chucked. This too, by the way, is deemed appropriate for 7 years old and up.
By contrast, "The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood", a tame American film about female sisterhood in the aftermath of dysfunctionality and trauma, is unworthy of anyone under 13. Same for the "Bourne Identity". Good gravy, people. Someone needs to slap the Spanish movies raters. And someone should film it. And then we should let the raters rate it. I'm guessing we'll get a "Not recommended for viewers under 18."
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6 comments:
Do we see what we shouldn't see?
Si!
while you're watching Spanish movies, I just watched "7 Dias" and quite liked it.
The TV ratings that they put in the corner when they're showing movies are all messed up in Poland, too. There is nothing wrong with nudity and it's fine for all ages. Sex (no matter how graphic, really) is okay for 12 and up and if there is a hint of violence it's for 17 and up.
Fortunately they are almost always American movies that I can (and do) look up on ScreenIt.com or the Internet Movie Database and find out what it's got in it.
We saw Volver on an international flight and really liked it.
At first I thought it might be a nudity-european thing too, but then I remembered all the throat slitting in "Malatriste" that we watched, and that one was for "7 years and up" so it blew that theory. I guess we just have to have a remote handy for a quick cut at any moment!
"7 Days" was a fun film... nothing like bringing U2 to Mexico City with drug money. So true to life. And, no, I'm not being facetious.
While IMDB.com lists all the Spanish-language films, it doesn't always have content advisories. I've never seen Screenit.
have you seen "O Ano em que Meus Pais Saíram de Férias"? just watched it on netflix and its pretty good too.
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