DO YOU DARE READ?
BOOK OF THE BANNED
DEVILISH MOVIES, DASTARDLY CENSORS AND THE SCENES THAT MADE AUSTRALIA SWEAT
‘This book is f***ing great. And if they put asterisks in this quote, the censors will have won again.’
Chris Taylor
‘An essential book for film fans, cinema scholars and card-carrying perverts alike.’
Alexandra Heller-Nicholas
WHAT IS BOOK OF THE BANNED?
BLASPHEMY AND HORROR! SAUCY SWEDES! LUKE SKYWALKER’S CHARRED AUNT & UNCLE!
Australia has censored it all.
Did you know Aussie audiences were originally denied bona fide classics The Night of the Hunter, Breathless and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (to name just a few out of literal hundreds), or that Australians initially saw a watered-down version of Star Wars in cinemas?
Book of the Banned is a rigorous, rollicking, riotous and righteously-furious jaunt through film history that reveals the shocking stories behind Australia’s classification system and how your favourite movies have been snipped down under, featuring interviews with Margaret Pomeranz, David Stratton, a bunch of ‘banned’ filmmakers and even their censors.
Like any good story, there are heroes, anti-heroes, unexpected criminals and downright dastardly villains, though they’re not always whom you’d expect. But by discussing the movies, scenes and lines of dialogue deemed too extreme for Aussie eyes and ears, we can see how far we’ve come in Australia… and how far we have to go.
‘Important [and] exhaustive record of snipped and smothered films.’
John Safran
WHO IS SIMON MIRAUDO
He wrote the book. Learn more here.
‘A lively love-letter to controversial and challenging films.’
Flick Ford