Ratings and why most foreign films are NR

Ratings: for those of you who have been reading our blogs you may or may not have picked up on the common theme throughout some of the summaries. This would be that most of the foreign films we have viewed were not rated. First, I will give you a little insight on when, who, and why American films are rated then I will begin to explain the foreign rating policy. It began around 1968 under the direction of the Motion Picture Association of America. A board of parents is part of this committee and they must have parental experience to be a part of this committee. Movies are not required to be rated; however, if the rating is higher the response to the movie will be lower. The ratings are only to help parents decide the appropriate movies for their child to view.

Here are some different kinds of rating systems that have been set up from other countries.

France has a rating system that goes through the minister, prior to playing a film in the theater a license must be obtained through the Ministry of Culture. The different ratings are U which is all audiences, 12, 16, 18 and E for exempt.

India has a policy where central board of film certification must review film before public exhibition. The different ratings are U for everyone, A for over 18 years of age, U/A for children under 12 should be cautioned by parents before watching and S for restricted except for people such as doctors.

Italy rates their movies as well as television. T for all ages, VM14 no one under 14 and VM18 no one under 18.

Spain has ratings; however, because of attitudes toward censorship and they prefer personal preferences, identification is not checked when entering a cinema.

So as I was going through and finding out all of this information about the different rating systems of foreign films, I stumbled upon the United States and a few of their other kinds of ratings.

Not Rated or NR- This is not an official rating. This rating is used for independent films as well as foreign films that are in limited release. Is given label to movies in which have not been submitted to the MPAA for classification.

This is why most of the foreign films that are placed under categories of children's films on Netflix or other sources and still have not been rated, it is simply because they have not surpassed the MPAA for its correct rating. So before showing your child a NR movie you may want to view it first even if the cover looks like a children's film suitable for your child to view, it might not be.