>Will Harvey Scissorhands ever be happy with a film? That is indeed the question as he considers releasing a censored cut of The King’s Speech after it has received a pack-leading 12 Oscar nominations.
The story so far…
Back in November, the MPAA slapped The King’s Speech with an R-rating, meaning that those under the age of 17 could only see the film if accompanied by a parent or guardian. What could possibly be so scandalous about this inoffensive period drama to warrant an R-rating, you ask? Well, it’s all down to one scene in which speech therapist Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush) encourages the Duke of York (Colin Firth) to share a string of expletives to help him overcome his stammer. Apparently, the future King George VI shared one cuss word too many.
Executive Producer and distributor Harvey Weinstein of The Weinsten Company battled the MPAA over the rating, as well as the even more outrageous NC-17 classification given to Blue Valentine. Although he was able to convince them to re-classify Blue Valentine with an R, they held steady on The King’s Speech’s rating.
Now, according to the L.A. Times, Weinstein is gearing up for an Oscar sweep … by any means necessary.
Looking towards the impressive grosses in Great Britain (where the film is more sensibly rated 12 and over), Weinstein is talking with director Tom Hooper about potentially censoring the scene in question and scoring a PG rating for the film. The hope is that this gentler rating will make the film a breakout box office hit and a shoe-in for the Best Picture Oscar.
But will the Academy look favourably toward a move that places financial gain over artistic integrity? Weinstein and Hooper had long been trumpeting their decision to stick with their swear-happy scene, MPAA be damned. Would a last-minute about-face perhaps rub the Academy the wrong way?
Of course, nothing is set in stone yet. In the meantime…
Discuss: What say you?! Is the scene integral to the film, or could it stand to be cut? OR, is that beside the point?
