Controversial flicks: Grotesque, Thirst and Firaaq

I've mentioned must-see foreign films as well as funny commercials from abroad. What about banned or controversial movies? What flicks have been ruffling feathers all over the world? I listed three movies that have been in the spotlight for a while.

 

Grotesque

My idea for this topic started with this Japanese horror flick. To be fair, it is not quite right to

lump this with the last two classy numbers. Anyway, since the internet is abuzz with this story, you've probably heard the news. UK banned a Japanese horror flick called Grotesque. Given that the country has been facing a lot of flak about being somewhat controlling, people might be tempted to brush this off. After all, it can't be as bad as all that ... right?

Turns out this might be one instance where the authorities were not overreacting. Apparently, the folks in charge of rating movies in UK gagged and bulked after watching the eye-gouging, limb-severing bonanza. From what I gather, someone just weaved together a flimsy little story around every type of torture imaginable. This is when you ask that nagging question – would anyone really want to watch this in the first place?

 

Thirst

Alright, so this one might be an 'agree to disagree' moment. I should

also point out that the movie was not banned per say. Rather, someone somewhere in Korea was offended by one of the more suggestive posters which were subsequently changed. I am guessing that, since the bone of contention was about the priest character, the overall theme of this movie must make these same folks uncomfortable as well.

Here goes. 'Thirst' is a horror flick of sorts by Park Chan-wook, a rather popular Korean director. It has received rave reviews from a number of sources. Apparently, the director has taken the whole vampire genre and added dark arty elements to it. Think of it as redemption after the recent spate of misrepresentation of vampires. So, how's this for strange and unusual? The main protagonist becomes a vampire due to a strange illness and he is after his best friend's wife. So far it sounds like the backdrop to Melrose Place. Here's where the slow, arty elements come in. The lead is a priest and the whole movie is apparent about his inner conflicts as he goes through these insane experiences.

 

Firaaq

Yet again, another movie that was banned for a weird reason. The movie, Firaaq, was actually banned in Gujarat, India and this ban took an unofficial form. I don't think anyone anywhere put official stamps and waved an angry finger. Oh no, it seemed to be a rather quiet affair. On the other hand, it was well-received elsewhere and also won a number of accolades from abroad as well. Funnily enough, the theater folks in the Firaaq-shy province stated a financial disagreement as the underlying cause as opposed to something more ... ominous.

The movie is an arty-style drama directed by Nandita Das that uses a real-life event as its main backdrop. It showed how ordinary lives were disrupted by riots in India and thus, the overall plot is strewn together by following a variety of smaller stories. Here's the real kicker. The real-life events depicted in the movie? It was about the effects of the 2002 riots in Gujarat which marked a major upheaval between two large religious groups in India. Sadly, the unofficial ban appears to have lost the point of this movie.

 

Can you think of any other foreign films to add to this list?