A fully-clothed sex scene in the JMW Turner biopic was the most complained-about film in Britain in 2014, according to the BBFC's annual report.
Mr. Turner has been surrounded by some confusing news stories ever since its release (like, why wasn’t it nominated for any of the major prizes at the BAFTAs and Oscars?) but none quite as inexplicable as this one. The British Board of Film Classification named the Mike Leigh-directed biopic as the most complained-about movie of 2014, because of a scene in which lead actor Timothy Spall “vigorously” clenches his buttocks, according to the Guardian.
The BBFC, which awards age certification for movies released in Britain, said that the scene featuring the artist JMW Turner and his housekeeper, played by Marion Bailey, in which Spall’s “clothed buttocks are seen clenching vigorously, before the scene cuts to a close-up of his face and his thrusting head and shoulders”, caused 19 people to complain about its sexual nature in a film deemed to be of 12A suitability.
Timothy Spall in Mr. Turner, bizarrely the most complained-about film in 2014
The board had considered it acceptable for such an age range “given the lack of nudity, the relative brevity of the scene and its importance in terms of narrative”. Its annual report also mentioned that 19 was “a very low figure for most complained-about film”, and “a tiny proportion of those who will have seen it.”
More: Film review – ‘Mr. Turner’
Although the scene concerned takes place with both actors fully clothed, and all the camera really lingers on is a bit of bottom-wobbling from Spall, it was still enough to move over a dozen people to write in. Nevertheless, Mr. Turner has been Mike Leigh’s most successful movie to date in commercial terms, though it missed out in awards season despite rave reviews.
This figure is compared to the dozen people who contacted the BBFC about 12 Years A Slave, the second most-complained about movie of last year, concerning the graphic rape scene involving a female slave.
The previous year, the most controversial film in terms of BBFC complaints was the action thriller Jack Reacher, starring Tom Cruise. Usually, the list is dominated with horror or action films, not gentle period dramas.
Comedies don't get much darker than this pitch-black British movie, written and directed by Sally...
Lady Sandra Abbott is relieved to finally be planning a well-deserved retirement with her wealthy...
A fictionalised account of real events, this drama is reminiscent of Peter Morgan's work in...
From were-rabbits to sabre-toothed bunny rabbits, Nick Park returns with a Stone Age adventure featuring...
Professor Deborah Lipstadt spent her life documenting and writing about the atrocities that happened in...
This much more light-hearted sequel reinvigorates the franchise after Disney's quirky but murky 2010 reboot...
As Alice is once again taken into the magical and mysterious world that she's somehow...
Alice once again returns to Wonderland and meets a lot of familiar faces. This time...
It's no surprise that Mike Leigh would take a distinctly original approach to the celebrity...
Director Mike Leigh has made a new biopic about one of Britains finest landscape artists,...
An old-school caper comedy, this goofy romp struggles to surmount its badly contrived screenplay. Fortunately...
Richard and Kate are middle-class and middle-aged parents who have come to the end of...
Harvey Miller had only just got out of prison having spent 12 months inside. Once...