Brokeback Mountain - is it (almost) banned?

Firetrap

I'm sure I'm not the only one to have noticed what a limited release this film has received in Ireland. Considering the awards it's been picking up of late and the likelihood that it will be in the running for Oscars, that it's only being shown in a handful of cinemas is surprising.

I'd love to know the rationale behind its non distribution. Do the distributors think that Irish people would be afraid to turn up to their local cineplexes to watch a Gay Cowboy Film or that there would be pickets outside the door?

I thought that most Irish people, especially the younger generation who tend to visit the cinema more, had gone beyond that sort of small-minded thinking. Instead, we're being landed with muck like the new 50 Cent film and Cheaper by the Dozen 2.

senordingdong

Maybe the smaller cinemas couldn't afford it.

Where are you from?

Basq

I'm sure I'm not the only one to have noticed what a limited release this film has received in Ireland.

Seems to have gotten a pretty wide release... if it's in the Gaiety Sligo, i'd hardly call it a limited release! (however, am a bit suprised at it only getting 2 showings a day along with 'Munich' :eek:)

Do the distributors think that Irish people would be afraid to turn up to their local cineplexes to watch a Gay Cowboy Film or that there would be pickets outside the door?

Think you're reading into this far too much!

It's hardly censorship due to graphic violent / sexual scenes. The film was actually quite tame in my eyes (except for one scene -

the first tent scene

). And the 16 certificate it got was quite fair to be honest.

The film is far from banned - think it may have been banned in one state in the US (Ohio, if i recall correctly).

Jack B. Badd

The film distributers are having a row with the people who own Omniplex cinemas according to yesterday's Examiner. They're Ireland's biggest cinema chain and as a result most places wont be seeing the films until its released on DVD. Apparently this has sparked rumours of censorship but its a business rather than a moral issue.

lodgepole

The lack of screenings (for both this and Munich) are their lengthy screen times. That and the fact that there's quite a few films currently on release (far more than a few weeks ago) so they may be cut down to one screen per film.

It wasn't banned in an entire state in the US, it was a chain of cinemas that decided against showing it.

senordingdong

Jack B. Badd wrote:

The film distributers are having a row with the people who own Omniplex cinemas according to yesterday's Examiner. They're Ireland's biggest cinema chain and as a result most places wont be seeing the films until its released on DVD. Apparently this has sparked rumours of censorship but its a business rather than a moral issue.

Come again?

Firetrap

basquille wrote:

Seems to have gotten a pretty wide release... if it's in the Gaiety Sligo, i'd hardly call it a limited release! (however, am a bit suprised at it only getting 2 showings a day along with 'Munich' :eek:)


Think you're reading into this far too much!

It's hardly censorship due to graphic violent / sexual scenes. The film was actually quite tame in my eyes (except for one scene -

the first tent scene

). And the 16 certificate it got was quite fair to be honest.

The film is far from banned - think it may have been banned in one state in the US (Ohio, if i recall correctly).

Take a look at a portal like http://www.filminfo.net and you'll see that there's scarecely a sign of the film at all. I'm in the South-East and it's not being shown in any of the cinemas near me e.g. Kilkenny, Waterford, Clonmel, Wexford. It's not in all of the main Dublin multiplexes either. I don't know anything about the Gaiety in Sligo but I assume it's an independent cinema unlike most of the others around the country.

senordingdong

It's in all the Dublin multi-plex's....what are you on ya mad thing.

You really are making a mountian out of a mole hill.

Jack B. Badd

senordingdong wrote:

Come again?

Brokeback Mountain won't be released in Omniplex cinemas due to some issue between them and the film's distributers. Therefore a lot of the cinemas around the country won't be showing it. Because of this and presumably due to the film's content, rumours have started about censorship of the film but this isn't the case. It's purely a business problem, apparently. Anticlimactic, I know.

Basq

senordingdong wrote:

You really are making a mountian out of a mole hill.

.... you mean "a brokeback mountain out of a mole hill"!










.... i'll just get me coat!







** slam doors on the way out **

Chad ghostal

senordingdong wrote:

It's in all the Dublin multi-plex's....what are you on ya mad thing.

You really are making a mountian out of a mole hill.

some (4million or so) people live outside dublin..
there are cinemas outside dublin..
brokeback mountain is hard to to view in a cinema outside dublin..
especially down south..
it's the biggest film of the year..
and she was hardly making a mountain..

afaik jack has it right, but even the non-omniplex cinemas douglas/gate/kino/triskel are not showing it..

if i hadn't seen this elsewhere i'd be really fricken annoyed....

Hugh Hefner

Chad ghostal wrote:

some (4million or so) people live outside dublin..
there are cinemas outside dublin..
brokeback mountain is hard to to view in a cinema outside dublin..
especially down south..
it's the biggest film of the year..
and she was hardly making a mountain..

Yes but she sad that it was specifically not in all the major Dublin cinemas and he was just addressing that particular point, not saying, "It's in all the major Dublin cinemas and that's enough!"

However I am! The less cinemas the better! Keep those queeros in check, y'hear!? :v:

Nah, I liked the film and if the lesser/poorer cinemas aren't showing it then that's a pity but can't say I've noticed anything. I sincerely doubt any lack of showings has to do with homophobia or the like. I think that's a bit of a leap, don't you?

Jack B. Badd

Chad ghostal wrote:

afaik jack has it right, but even the non-omniplex cinemas douglas/gate/kino/triskel are not showing it..

I saw it in the Gate on Saturday but its been on limited release so it only arrived there on the 27th. If you're planning on going, I'd advise buying or booking tickets well in advance. The cinemas are crazy at the mo for some reason!

bopper

It was on limited release in the States as well. It's not really a big deal.

28064212

I'd imagine it's because it's an independent film and doesn't have a major distribution partner. Just because it's a good film doesn't mean it will get shown everywhere. Look at Donnie Darko, on it's original release it was only shown in one cinema (the IFI)

Hugh Hefner

28064212 wrote:

Look at Donnie Darko, on it's original release it was only shown in one cinema (the IFI)

And on that note I would like to propose a new word:...


Gyllenhaalism

Our man in Havana

On in Portlaoise also:

Brokeback Mountain
Cert 16, 134 mins
Daily at 5.45pm & 8.40pm
Late show Fri & Sat at 11.35pm

bungeecork

Jack B. Badd wrote:

I saw it in the Gate on Saturday but its been on limited release so it only arrived there on the 27th. If you're planning on going, I'd advise buying or booking tickets well in advance. The cinemas are crazy at the mo for some reason!

Yep - just to confirm Jack B. Badd - the lack of screens for this movie is due to a "thing" going on between the largest cinema owner in the country (called Omniplex but owning many cinemas not called Omniplex as well as many cinemas actually called Omniplex) and the distributors.

I just thought I'd say it again

TerrorFirmer

I remember before we had the Eye in Galway, the amount of feckin movies that I was dying to see, and just never came out in Omniplex Galway.....I was raging. Now we have the good ol' trusty eye

LookingFor

Jack B. Badd wrote:

The film distributers are having a row with the people who own Omniplex cinemas according to yesterday's Examiner. They're Ireland's biggest cinema chain and as a result most places wont be seeing the films until its released on DVD. Apparently this has sparked rumours of censorship but its a business rather than a moral issue.

It's been one of the busier movies at my local UCI. The number of screens actually went up significantly after its first week (at the moment it's just shy of the bigger, more recent releases in terms of screening #s).

senordingdong

Whatever it is, I would put money on it having nothign to do with banning of any sort.

spooky donkey

Well its not really a film that would get me into a cinema. Now Donie Darko I might have gone to see that only It was on VIdeo by the time I saw it. Fillms winning awards dosent mean I would want to see them, and im not the only one who feel this way.