Back Arts & Culture » Film & TV » Vietnam Unveils New Film Rating System

Vietnam Unveils New Film Rating System

As of January 1, Vietnam’s new film rating system allows the local movie industry to screen adult content.

According to VnExpress, the new rating system includes four classifications: P for general audiences, C13 for viewers age 13 and up, C16 for viewers age 16 and up, and C18 for viewers age 18 and up.

The system, which is modeled after a similar rating system in Singapore, was created in an effort to do away with “unnecessary cinematic censorship”, writes the news outlet.

In handing out film ratings, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism will consider a film’s profanity, violence, nudity, sexual content, gore and drug-related content. Gratuitous scenes of sex or violence will continue to be censored.

While this bodes well for the film industry, allowing filmmakers more creative freedom in their work, it remains to be seen how the rating system will work in practice. Though the new system had been in the works for three years before it was officially launched, just last year film censors proposed a ban on sex scenes which lasted longer than five seconds as well as full-frontal female nudity.

These measures will not be included in the new rating system, however film censors can be a fickle group. In 2015, censors unexpectedly pulled the erotic film 50 Shades of Gray from theaters. CGV, which had purchased the film’s Vietnam distribution rights, later screened a version in which all sex scenes were cut from the movie. A few years earlier, the now-famous local action flick Bui Doi Cho Lon suffered a similar fate when it was banned from theaters for its violent content.

Vietnam’s previous rating system included just two ratings: G for general audiences and NC16 for films suitable for viewers 16 and up.

[Photo via YouTube user GalaxyFilmThienNgan]


Related Articles:

Vietnam Considers Allowing 5-Second Sex Scenes in Movies


Related Articles

in Film & TV

'Canh Dong Hoang' Cinematographer Duong Tuan Ba Passes Away at 93

Most famously known for his part in making the film Canh Dong Hoang (The Abandoned Field: Free Fire Zone) in 1979, cinematographer Duong Tuan Ba died of old age at 1:50pm on June 1, 2020, at the age o...

in Film & TV

'Co Ba Sai Gon' Is Vietnam's Contender for Best Foreign Language Film at Oscars 2019

Co Ba Sai Gon (The Tailor), directed by Tran Buu Loc and Nguyen Le Phuong Khanh, is an homage to áo dài.

in Film & TV

'Dunkirk' Director Christopher Nolan Was in Saigon During the Weekend

Some hopeful fans were wondering if he was in the country to find inspiration for a Dunkirk 2.

in Film & TV

'Em Chua 18' Is Vietnam's First Film to Have Foreign Remakes

Foreign filmmakers are seeking to remake Em Chua 18, Vietnam's biggest domestically produced box-office hit to date.

in Film & TV

'Hai Phuong' Becomes Highest-Grossing Vietnamese Movie of All Time

Hai Phuong landed US distribution rights from Well Go USA Entertainment, and has been played in 28 cities in America and Canada since March 1.

in Film & TV

'Kong: Skull Island' Smashes Box Office Records as Director Considers Move to Saigon

It was a big weekend for King Kong fans in Vietnam, with the giant ape's latest cinematic foray smashing local box office records, while the film's director announced his intention to move to Saigon.&...

Partner Content