DEATH BY A THOUSAND CUTS
A movie censor's life unravels in disturbing fashion as life and art collide
“Sequels are all the rage these days,” says a character in the disturbing new horror film, Censor, placing the action squarely in either the 19th, 20th or 21st century. But an image of Margaret Thatcher on the television narrows the time and place nicely: Britain. 1980s.
It was the era of “video nasties,” a peculiarly British term for a certain kind of low-budget horror shlock, distributed on VHS tapes and the cause of much establishment hand-wringing about the state of the nation's youth, entertainment options, et cetera.
Welsh filmmaker Prano Bailey-bond is far more aware of the politics of the time than I, even though she was born only in 1982. But you don't really need to be versed in the finery of the BBFC (British Board of Film Classification) or NVALA (the National Viewers' and Listeners' Association, don't you know) to get drawn into this slick little number.
Enid is our way in. Played by Niamh Algar, she's a film censor, watching hours of painfully violent content and recommending whether films be banned, given a pass or edited into submission. There's a lot of debate on that last point.
“Heightened references take the edge off the more realistic violence,” says her colleague. She responds with a list of changes she's made to a film, adding: “I trimmed the tiniest bit off the end of the genitals,” with a gesture than makes him wince.
Film censorship will take its toll on anyone — heck, film criticism has its rough days. (Have you ever seen Songbird?) But Enid has more on her plate than mere work. Years earlier, her sister disappeared and is now presumed dead by her parents, who just want to be able to move on. But Enid can't let go of the incident, and when a horror movie dropped off by a slimy producer (Michael Smiley) has a plot with similarities to real life, she starts to unravel. A subplot in which a murderer seems to have been inspired by a film that Enid recently OK'D for distribution merely adds to her woes.
Bailey-bond nails the look and feel of the era, shooting on a variety of old stock, and with every interior seemingly lit by 40W bulbs. And Algar is great in the role of Enid — I can't think of the last time I saw a character so obviously carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders. Well, not since Hercules, anyway.
The director has clearly been working on the ideas in this, her feature debut, for some time.
Six years ago she delivered a 15-minute short, titled simply Nasty, with a similar plot. Censor runs a tight 83 minutes in comparison.
And you know what? I wouldn't cut a single frame.