French movies, cut and banned before the November 1971 liberalisation of the Australian censorship system.
Africa Erotica
aka African Erotica – A Happening In Africa
aka African Thrills
Directed by Zygmunt Sulistrowski / 1970 / France – Belgium – USA / IMDb
March 1971 / Rated: A / Length: 7906 feet / Time: 87:51 / Censored by 02:15 / Reason: violence and indecency / Comment: Reconstructed version
Post-November 1971 rating
An 80-minute DVD, submitted as AFRICAN EROTICA – A HAPPENING IN AFRICA (said to be AFRICAN THRILLS), was passed with an R (High level sex scenes, Nudity, Sexual violence) rating in March 2005. The applicant, Force Entertainment, released it as part of an eight-film box set titled FRENCH EROTIC COLLECTION.
Different versions explained
Shane Harrison reports
Force Entertainment (au) – 2005 DVD
Box & Menu title – AFRICAN THRILLS
On-screen title – AFRICA EROTICA: A HAPPENING IN AFRICA
83:00 – Includes opening 00:10 Cinema Arts Entertainment logo – No end credits
Originally released in the USA in 1970 in both R-rated and X-rated versions. A 1978 French rerelease removed footage and replaced it with softcore inserts that featured Brigitte Lahaie. Despite showing an MPAA R-rating card, the Australian DVD is the 1978 French version.
The plot involves a creepy older man who takes a young nude model on an African adventure. Even though the sex and pubic hair were censored, I still cannot believe it received such a lenient rating. I even viewed it at a skin cinema, the Star.
The missing footage in the Australian print exceeds the length of the censor’s reported cuts suggesting edits before submission. These sequences were censored for the original A-rated release. The removal of old footage and the inclusion of new means the location of the cuts would have shifted.
Censored at 03:33 by 00:20 – Topless dancer gyrating on the floor as male dancers respond.
Censored at 04:19 by 00:24 – View of Karen’s (Carrie Rochelle) rape.
Censored at 12:45 by 00:57 – Discreet nude lovemaking between Karen and Robert (Darr Poran AKA director Zygmunt Sulistrowski).
Censored at 21:39 by 00:02 – Quick flash of full-frontal nudity of Karen.
Censored at 23:37 by 00:07 – Karen falls from a tree and lays full-frontal naked on the ground.
Censored at 24:06 by 00:01 – Another flash of Karen nude on the ground.
Censored at 25:30 – Numerous edits as a monkey pokes, sniffs and examines Karen’s nude body as she lays unconscious. This scene, with its implications of bestiality, played heavily in the film’s overseas promotion, especially in the prolonged X-rated print. In Australia, Karen was shown falling from the tree, followed by the monkey beginning to check on her. His quizzical inspection was censored as a snake immediately interrupts.
Censored at 39:37 by 00:03 – Karen flashing full-frontal nudity as she flees.
Censored at 40:57 by 00:06 – Karen has a flashback of her rape.
Censored at 78:14 by 01:31 – Nude love scene between Robert and Karen.
The softcore additions are easy to identify and occur at 04:43 to 04:50, 04:57 to 06:21, 16:08 to 18:11, 41:03 to 42:58, 56:18 to 56:28 and 62:31 to 69:07. They were not added until 1978 so would have been present in the original submission.
Further reading
For more Zygmunt Sulistrowski, see LOVE IN THE PACIFIC (1970) in this database and ANNIE: THE VIRGIN OF ST TROPEZ (1976) in Film Censorship Database No. 1.
The Lady in the Car with Glasses and a Gun
Directed by Anatole Litvak / 1970 / France – USA / IMDb
October 1970 / Rated: A / Length: 9586 feet / Time: 106:31 / Censored by 00:01 / Reason: violence
Invasion
aka L’invasion (Film Censorship Board title)
Directed by Yves Allégret / 1970 / France / IMDb
October 1970 / Rated: Banned / Length: 8283 feet / Time: 92:02 / Reason: indecency
Nathalie After Love
Directed by Boris Szulzinger / 1970 / France – Italy – Belgium / IMDb
January 1971 / Rated: Banned / Length: 7700 feet / Time: 85:33 / Reason: indecency
May 1971 / Rated: Banned / Length: 7496 feet / Time: 83:17 / Reason: indecency / Comment: Reconstructed version
September 1971 / Appeal: Against refusal of the Film Censorship Board to register / Length: 7496 feet / Time: 83:17 / Result: Film to be registered SOA / Comment: Reconstructed version
The SOA rating was awarded in September 1971, just before the introduction of the new classification system. The daybill poster shows that it was eventually released with an M-rating and distributed by United Cinema and Regent Films.
Road to Salina
Directed by Georges Lautner / 1970 / France – Italy / IMDb
January 1971 / Rated: SOA / Length: 8747 feet / Time: 97:11 / Censored by 01:46 / Reason: indecency and encouragement to drug abuse
Secret Report on Prostitution
Directed by Jean-Claude Roy / 1971 / France / IMDb
January 1971 / Rated: SOA / Length: 7600 feet / Time: 84:27 / Censored by 02:40 / Reason: indecency