Régie du cinéma (Quebec)

A Milk White Flag, a 1916 burlesque short, was refused by the Régie as "not in good taste from a military point of view".[1]

The Régie du cinéma is a government agency responsible for the motion picture rating system within the Canadian province of Quebec. Its mandate is to classify and approve films for distribution to Quebec's movie theatres and home video outlets. Its purview devolves from the Cinema Act (RSQ, C-18.1). As of 2010, the Agency had a net income of 7 million dollars and has accumulated more than 85 million dollars in cash in their bank account. [2]

Michel Létourneau currently serves as the President of the agency which is under the auspices of Quebec's Ministère de la Culture et des Communications (Ministry of Culture and Communications).

Rating system

The Régie du cinéma rates all films and videos. Individual ratings and their rationales are publicly available online on the Régie's website . The same classifications are used for television broadcasts.

The current ratings are:[3]

Rating Label Description

G		 Visa général (General Rating)
May be viewed, rented or purchased by persons of all ages.
If a film carring a "G" rating might offend the sensibilities of a child under 8 years of age, "Not suitable for young children" is appended to the classification.

13+		 13 ans et plus (13 years and over)
May be viewed, rented or purchased only by persons 13 years of age and over.
Children under 13 may be admitted to a public showing of the film but only if accompanied by an adult.

16+		 16 ans et plus (16 years and over)
May be viewed, rented or purchased only by persons 16 years of age and over.

18+		 18 ans et plus (18 years and over)
May be viewed, rented or purchased only by persons 18 years of age and over.
The 18+ rating is usually reserved for pornographic movies or works that are especially violent, cruel or feature torture. An Explicit Sexuality indication requires retailers to place materials out of the reach of minors, in a separate room.

Each rating can also include one or a number of complementary indications. The possible combinations are as follows:

Rating For children Not suitable
for young children		 Coarse
Language		 Erotica Violence Horror Explicit
Sexuality
G Green tick (exclusive use) Green tick (exclusive use) Red X (not used) Red X (not used) Red X (not used) Red X (not used) Red X (not used)
13+ Red X (not used) Green tick (rarely) Green tick (used) Green tick (used) Green tick (used) Green tick (used) Red X (not used)
16+ Red X (not used) Red X (not used) Green tick (used) Green tick (used) Green tick (used) Green tick (used) Red X (not used)
18+ Red X (not used) Red X (not used) Green tick (used) Green tick (used) Green tick (used) Green tick (used) Green tick (exclusive use)

The G movies usually can have some swearing in them, as long as the offensive language is not prevalent throughout. Violence can also be permitted, but only in a fantasy context (in such movies as Iron Man, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Transformers and Eragon). Sex can be present as long as it is filmed with extreme maintenance. Horror elements can be present, but have to be filmed in a way that would not scare children under 13 years of age. In cases where objectionable material can be found, the Not recommended for young children tag, which indicates that the movie could contain material inappropriate for young children but does not prohibit them from viewing the film, is added to the original rating.

13+ movies usually have content that likely would not be suitable for young children. Typically, scenes of violence that are darker than what is depicted in traditional fantasy films (i.e.: Watchmen and The Dark Knight), or are more realistic (i.e.: The Departed, Taken and Body of Lies) warrant a 13+ rating. As opposed to G movies, strong horror elements can be present; these are usually accompanied with the Horror tag (i.e.: The Shining, Friday the 13th (2009 version), and Hannibal Rising). Vulgar Language is more prevalent and scenes of sexual acts or nudity can be more explicit (i.e.: Deception, District 9, Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay, Henry & June, Observe and Report, Alpha Dog and Sex Drive).

16+ movies are usually movies with more explicit violence than what a 13+ movie can afford. Most of these cases, a movie deals with extreme violence. Rambo, Smokin' Aces, Crank: High Voltage, Hannibal and Pulp Fiction are all examples of 16+ rated movies featuring violence. In some cases, it can be for sex and nudity, and that rating usually occurs to soft-core pornography. Horror elements can also be present, although in these cases, they are mostly mixed with violence (i.e.: the Saw series). In rare cases, a movie is rated 16+ for the language it uses (i.e.: Clerks II and Strange Wilderness).

18+ movies are mostly hard-core or soft-core pornography movies, but they can also feature movies of extreme violence and gore. Hostel, Hostel: Part II, Fight Club, Friday the 13th (1980 version), Wolf Creek, Natural Born Killers, and Philosophy of a Knife are a few examples. It is rare that a normal movie will get an 18+ rating for the language or horror elements it has. Sometimes, nudity and sex is strong enough to warrant an 18+ rating without going into the edges of pornography, but is usually accompanied by another indication, such as violence.

Movies that have not yet been rated feature the indication En attente de classement (Rating Pending). This is common on print advertising before the release of a movie. The movie must have been rated by the Régie by the time it is released.

While not a classification per se, educational or pedagogical movies, sport and physical exercise programs, and promotional materials are exempt from classification.[4]

The Régie does not cut sequences from movies; they are rated in the format provided by the production company. Nonetheless, the Régie has the authority to deny classification,[4] in which case the movie cannot be distributed in any format in the province of Québec. Such movies usually feature inhumane sexual exploitation.

See also

References

External links