The Devils (film) - Censorship

Censorship

This was a highly controversial film with a rough history of censorship issues; its commentary on religious institutions such as the Catholic Church and organized religion in general stirred up controversy from censorship and ratings boards around the world. This, combined with its graphic depictions of violence, accentuated the film's uncompromising subject matter.

The film's combination of religious themes and imagery combined with violent and sexual content was a test for the British Board of Film Censors that at the time was being lobbied by socially conservative pressure groups such as the Festival of Light.

In order to earn a British "X" certificate (suitable for those aged 18 and over), Russell made minor cuts to the more explicit nudity (mainly in the cathedral and convent sequences), details from the first exorcism (mainly that which indicated an anal insertion) and removed some violent detail (notably the crushing of Grandier's legs and latter stages of burning at the stake). However, the biggest cuts were made by the studio itself, prior to submission to the BBFC, removing two scenes in their entirety, notably a two-and-a-half-minute sequence of crazed naked nuns sexually assaulting a statue of Christ and about half of a latter scene with Sister Jeanne masturbating with the charred femur of Grandier at the end of the film. However, even in its released form, the film was considerably stronger in detail than most films released prior to that point.

Its fate in the US was even more stringent, with a further set of cuts made to even more of the nudity with some key scenes (including Sister Jeanne's crazed visions, exorcism and the climactic burning) shorn of the more explicit detail. The film was released in 'X' form (no one under 18 years of age admitted) during its initial US theatrical release, but later resubmitted and recut to the MPAA and garnered an R-rating after another two minutes were removed (further removals of nudity and violent detail plus much of the second vision of Sister Jeanne).