Posted by whynotsmile99 at 24-205-41-90.gln-eres.charterpipeline.net on November 15, 2002 at 00:39:07:
no cuts no cuts no cuts! whoohoo!
Clooney Scene Gets PG-13 Rating
The Associated Press
Nov 14 2002 10:24PM
LOS ANGELES (AP) - George Clooney's bare-bottom shots in the science-fiction romance ``Solaris'' won't cost the movie its PG-13 rating, the film's studio said Thursday.
The Motion Picture Association of America, which determines the parental-guideline designations, backed off its original R-rating for the film without forcing director Steven Soderbergh to eliminate the nudity.
After arguing their case Wednesday before the ratings board, Soderbergh and 20th Century Fox film chairman Jim Gianopulous won the less-restrictive rating, which increases the potential audience and marketing opportunities for the film.
``We just thought that the material was handled in a very mature and tasteful manner and that any normal 13-year-old could more than wrap their mind around it,'' Soderbergh said in an interview Thursday. ``The question was 'Are kids in danger of having their emotional lives turned upside down by these images?' As far as Jim G. and I were concerned, the answer was: `absolutely not.
' ``
In one shot, Clooney's character slow-dances partially naked in dim light with his wife, played by actress Natascha McElhone. In another, he and McElhone have a bedside discussion while undressed.
Soderbergh, who won a directing Academy Award in 2001 for ``Traffic,'' argued that the scenes were necessary to illustrate the romantic relationship between the couple.
He also noted that audiences can see actors in similar states of undress on some network television shows such as ``NYPD Blue.''
``Solaris,'' based on the novel by Stanislaw Lem, stars Clooney as a widowed astronaut forced to deal with his grief in space. It's a remake of a 1972 Russian film.