Real Sex on European Cinemas

9 Songs - the new movie by controversial British director Michael Winterbottom, containing real sex scenes, rather than artistic simulation, will be released uncut in the UK next year.
9 Songs is only one of many movies containing real sex, released in Europe, uncut, in the past years. Among such are Irreversible starring Monica Bellucci, Bais Moi (Rape Me), Romance, La Pianniste (The Piano Teacher) and many more.
Catherine Breillat's film Romance was banned in several countries due to its graphic sexual scenes. However, in the UK, Romance was passed to its cinema release without cuts and later it was passed for video release with only one-second cut of a sexual act. Gaspar Noe’s Irreversible was so explicit that over 200 people walked out of the cinema in disgust, during its screening at the Cannes Festival.
In a similar way the people walking out of 9 Songs at this years' Cannes said that they couldn’t believe how sexually explicit it was even though they were forewarned. However the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) ruled that 9 songs will not be subject to special criteria.
"We don't normally allow depictions of unsimulated sex in an 18 film, unless they can be exceptionally justified by the context of the film," were the words of Craig Lapper, the chief assistant of the BBFC in charge of policy.