All a bit Salty for some..
Movie fans’ complaints rejected by Irish censor
CINEMAGOERS griped to the censor last year that Barry Keoghan’s racy Saltburn should have had an 18s classification.
The complaint features among 26 received by the Irish Film Classification Office in 2023, all of which were rejected.
Saltburn, which features sex scenes and one involving full-frontal nudity from the Dublin actor, had just one objection.
However, the award-winning Banshees of Inisheerin, in which 31-year-old Keoghan also starred alongside Colin Farrell, 47, and Brendan Gleeson, 60, was the subject of four complaints.
Apart from Keoghan’s character taking his own life off-screen, viewers also had an issue with the accents of its mainly Irish cast, the societal values portrayed and the historical accuracy of Martin Mcdonagh’s Civil War allegory.
An IFCO spokesperson said: “Public engagement and feedback is important for all our activities.”
She added: “Our updated complaints procedure includes a commitment to publish complaints received and our responses on a more regular basis.
“In 2023, we received 26 complaints and all were resolved.
“In the majority of cases, people disagreed with the rating awarded or believed additional information should have been included in the consumer advice.
“The complaints related to 13 different films classified in 2023, which is less than 1% of the total number of films classified that year.”
Elsewhere, there were complaints that Cocaine Bear, shot in Co Wicklow, should not have had an 18 rating – and seven complaints concerning suicide depictions in A Man Called Otto.
Viewers complained that Winnie The Pooh: Blood and Honey contained too much violence, while Puss in Boots: The Last Wish had too much profane language. The IFCO classified 1,134 theatrical works in 2023.
Total box office revenue was over €101million, up 10% on 2022, according to new figures released yesterday by the IFCO.
Barbie was the most-watched flick, pulling in €9.9million, followed by Oppenheimer (€6.4million) and Super Mario Bros (€5.1million). But not one Irish or Irish-made movie figured among the top 25.
The IFCO spokesperson said: “More than 75% of works classified for cinema screening were in the PG, 12A or 15A categories. Some 12% were in the 16s category... 7% of films classified in 2023 received an over18s certificate.”