Does anyone know why this film received an 'R' rating? I have watched it several times and cannot figure it out. No profanity, no violence, no sexual content...
The only nudity is a full shot of Shirley Knight, undressed.... but it is taken in a dark room, from such a long distance that it is impossible to make anything out.
Could this be the reason?
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It had a sex scene.
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Actually, that isn't entirely true. It has a flashback to a pre-coital scene on Natalie Ravenna's wedding night, with Shirley Knight and Robert Modica rolling around on the floor, but they are completely clothed.
It does have an attempted rape (by Duvall) at the end, but again, both he and Knight are clothed and the rape doesn't progress very far before Laurie Crews interrupts it.
I'm wondering if the R rating on this film isn't simply a reflection on the more conservative standards of the MPAA in '69.
In the rape scene, there's her butt free to see. It also has often some rough talk, so maybe that's a reason too. And speaking of content - I just don't think this is the movie for young.
share******* SPOILER ALERT (second graf) ************
I don't think it's for the too-young either, but then, I guess I'm a little strict that way when it comes to kids.
But anyhow...as to the OP's question, it actually is a little mystifying how this landed an R. I can think of other films from that time period where attempted rape or coerced sex (which is just another form of rape, far as I'm concerned) is depicted, and/or where more nudity is shown than in this film, and yet the films earned only a PG rating. Maybe what put them over the top was the subversive and unconventional thematic material or something. Or maybe it was the fact of the child shooting the Caan character at the end. Hard to say.
Hi:
Just finished watching this excellent film last night. Perhaps the "R" rating stems from the fact that the Rosalie character (Robert Duvall's character's daughter) is so foul-mouthed. Or maybe it's all of the elements combined (as listed in the previous posts).
~pemory
My guess is it's the discussions of abortion (still illegal in the US in 1969) culminating in the husband's desperate offer to take her to Japan for a legal one, and continue the marriage childless if necessary, to get her home again. Even without the partial nudity, rape attempt, foul-mouthed child, and generally subversive idea of running out on what seems a pleasant-enough young marriage to find yourself, the decision to abort a presumably healthy embryo conceived between a married couple would probably do it.
shareSphynx I don't know what you are talking about. I've seen this movie over 20 times and there is no scene where Vinny (the husband, played by Robert Modica) offers to take Natalie to Japan for an abortion, or to continue the marriage childlessly. Nor does Natalie decide to abort the baby. Not at all. She mentions on the phone that it might be a possibility, and he is so horrified and repulsed that he can't stand even the thought. Once the film turns into an allegory , the implied meaning is that she decides to keep the baby in the end and return to her husband. I think you are confusing this with another picture.
shareI have only watched this movie once, so my memory of it is nowhere near as clear as yours. On the other hand, my previous comment was posted within 24 hours of seeing it, so confusion with another picture seems unlikely.
In the early conversation the husband was indeed horrified. I believe it was the last call, by which time Vinny was desperate enough to promise practically anything to try to get his young wife home again. I'm certain he offered to continue the marriage childlessly, and there was no talk about giving the baby up for adoption: the Japan trip was hinted at, not discussed at length. If she returned home based on that premise, my guess is that the family would have slapped her in a sanitarium till she came to her senses and/or gave birth.
Of course no abortion was actually performed. But the mere serious discussion of aborting a healthy first embryo, for no reason other than marital happiness, would have been highly controversial in 1969, and might be what caused the censors to slap an "R" rating on it.
You are right. During the final phone call before Killer pulls the chord, the husband mentions Tokyo (Japan) and says that she doesn't have to have kids if she doesn't want to.
shareBecause we saw Shirley's tushie.
sharei just finished watching "The Last Detail" (1973) and this is what it said about that movie under the trivia section:
"The script was completed in 1970, but contained too much profanity to be shot as written. Columbia Pictures waited for two years trying to get writer Robert Towne to tone down the language. Instead, by 1972, the standards for foul language relaxed so much that all the profanity was left in."
The Rain People" came out in 1969, so the profanity in it may have had something to do with the R rating.
Shirley Knight is nude in one scene.
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