The first NC-17 film in five years will be released later this year, now that Fox Searchlight Pictures has decided not to cut Oscar-winning director Bernardo Bertolucci’s The Dreamers down to qualify for a R rating.
The Dreamer tells a story of a young American in 1968 who moves in with Parisian twins, a brother and a sister, whose lifestyle causes him to alter his concept about everything – from his politics to his concept of sexuality.
The twins are naked for most of the movie, including full frontal nudity.
According to the Associated Press, Fox Searchlight Pictures said Tuesday it will release the director's original version with an NC-17 designation instead of demanding an R-rated version.
The last NC-17 movies were released in 1997: Bent, a drama about the Nazi persecution of homosexuals, and Orgazmo, the comedic spoof of the adult industry from the creators of South Park.
Bertolucci had previously expressed concern that his film may have been watered down by Fox Searchlight to avoid the NC-17 rating, which makes it difficult for films to find theaters, not to mention the loss of revenue from rental outlets such as Blockbuster and retailers such as Wal-Mart that won’t carry NC-17 titles.
''I'm relieved - in so many ways - that the distributor has had the vision to release my original film,'' Bertolucci told the Associated Press today. ''After all, an orgasm is better than a bomb.''
Comparing the film to sexually themed classics Midnight Cowboys and Bertolucci's own Last Tango in Paris, Fox Searchlight Pictures President Peter Rice said, ''Like The Dreamers, those masterpieces would not have been improved by cutting them to an R rating,'' Rice said.
Fox Searchlight Pictures is the art house division of 20th Century Fox studios.
