Banned Books Week, as described on ALA’s site, is “an annual event celebrating the freedom to read. Typically held during the last week of September, it highlights the value of free and open access to information. Banned Books Week brings together the entire book community — librarians, booksellers, publishers, journalists, teachers, and readers — in shared support of the freedom to seek and express ideas, even those some consider unorthodox or unpopular.”
Banned Books Week is a big deal for librarians — and for ALL of us, really, as censorship and challenges to our freedom to read occur every day — which got me thinking, what about banned films?
Movie censorship has its own history in the United States, including with the “Motion Picture Production Code” in the 1930s, when only a few big film studios controlled the content of almost all films made in this country. This code was more commonly known as the “Hays Code,” named after after Will H. Hays, president of the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America (MPPDA), which later became the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA). This code, enforcing rules of decency and conduct, was implemented in 1930, but wasn’t strictly enforced until 1934, and it lasted through 1968. The MPAA board, itself the subject of a 2006 documentary called This Film is Not Yet Rated, continues to cause controversy with its film rating system (the G through NC-17 scale). Some argue that this board’s non-transparent methods of rating films creates a chilling effect on filmmakers.
And censorship is nothing new internationally. Many countries still have boards that review and censor books and films. I saw the effects of this firsthand when I lived and worked overseas in the UAE. A lot of movies I watched in theaters in the UAE had scenes cut from them — it made watching The Watchmen, for example, very confusing, since sooooooo much was cut, including almost every scene with Dr. Manhattan — and I bought a book once because it had been censored. (Trinny & Susannah’s Who Do You Want To Be Today?: Be inspired to Dress Differently included photos of a topless Josephine Baker, and these photos had been marked through with a large black Sharpie.)
Circling back around to reel librarians, I wondered if any reel librarian movies have been banned. Short answer? YES.
Long answer: I did some research! The first step was to locate lists of banned or challenged films, including ones here, here, and here. I then compared these lists, and others listed below in the “Sources” section, to my Master List of reel librarian films.
Below is my (starting) list of titles of reel librarian movies that have been banned, either in the U.S. or internationally. I’ve arranged the list alphabetically by film title.
All foreign films made before 1980:
Where they were banned:
- Uganda: From 1972-79, President Idi Amin banned all foreign films on the grounds that they contained “imperialist propaganda.” So technically, that means that all foreign films made before 1980 were banned in Uganda. Based on my recent post about reel librarian movie totals, that means at least 83 reel librarian films that were made before 1980 were banned.
Angels and Demons (2009):
Summary:
A mystery thriller film directed by Ron Howard, based on Dan Brown’s novel of the same name and the sequel to the 2006 film The Da Vinci Code. It once again stars Tom Hanks as historian-adventurer Robert Langdon, who travels to the Vatican and Rome to track down a vial of antimatter that has gone missing. Set against a conclave to select a new Pope, this movie includes scenes in the Vatican Library.
Where it was banned:
- Samoa: Banned by film censor Lei’ataua Olo’apu for being “critical of the Catholic Church” and to “avoid any religious discrimination by other denominations and faiths against the Church.”
The Big Sleep (1946):
Summary:
A complex crime story with private eye Philip Marlowe (Humphrey Bogart) hired to keep an eye on General Sternwood’s daughter (Lauren Bacall). In a brief library scene, a young, blonde librarian is curious about Marlowe’s reading choices. The Hollywood Public Library and another female librarian, a brunette, also feature in the film’s trailer.
Where it was banned:
- Ireland: In its original release due to sexual references.
- Malaysia: It was banned originally, but the film passed in 1999 with a VCD release and a delayed DVD release from Warner Malaysia Video.
Blade (1998):
Summary:
Blade (Wesley Snipes), a half-vampire, is on a mission to destroy vampires, while vampire Deacon Frost (Stephen Dorff) is on a mission to destroy the human race. Blade tortures the Record Keeper, who confesses he helped Deacon in translating the Vampire Bible’s prophecy.
Where it was banned:
- Malaysia: The film was never released in cinemas, but it passed for a VCD release and a delayed DVD release.
The Blue Kite (aka Lan feng zheng, 1993):
Summary:
This film, directed by Tian Zhuangzhuang, shows the perspective of a young boy, Tieto, growing up in the 1950s and 1960s in Beijing, China. The film is organized into three episodes: Hundred Flowers Campaign, the Great Leap Forward, and the Cultural Revolution. Tieto’s father works in a library and, while he goes to the bathroom, is selected by his colleagues as a “rightist” to report to Mao Zedong’s Communist Party.
Where it was banned:
- China: For being “offensive” and overtly criticizing government policies. The film was also smuggled out of China for final editing and not submitted to the China’s Central Film Bureau for post-production approval. Its director received a 10-year ban from making films.
Brief Encounter (1945):
Summary:
A classic romantic drama about an ordinary English wife and mother (Celia Johnson) and an ordinary English husband and father (Trevor Howard) who meet one day by chance and fall in love. The woman stops by the Boots Lending Library on her weekly shopping trip.
Read here for my analysis post for Brief Encounter.
Where it was banned:
- Ireland: The film was considered “too permissive of adultery”
Note: As I mentioned in my analysis post for Brief Encounter, when she picks up her book at the Boots Lending Library, she states that “Miss Lewis had at last managed to get the new Kate O’Brien for me. I believe she’d kept it hidden under the counter for two days.” Kate O’Brien was an Irish novelist and playwright (1897-1974), who explored gay/lesbian themes in several of her works. Some of her work was quite controversial, as two of her books were banned in her native Ireland. Just like this film!
Carrie (1976):
Summary:
A supernatural horror film directed by Brian De Palma and based on Stephen King’s 1974 novel. The film focuses on Carrie, a shy, bullied high school student who is also in the process of discovering her supernatural powers. In one scene, Carrie searches through her high school library looking for books on mental telepathy.
Where it was banned:
- Malaysia: This film was never shown in cinemas during its release. The ban lifted by 1996 with a VCD release from Warner-MGM Malaysia and with its out-of-print DVD release. Most other films based on or written by Stephen King have also been banned in Malaysia.
Citizen Kane (1941):
Summary:
A classic saga about the rise and fall of newspaper tycoon Charles Foster Kane (Orson Welles). A reporter visits the Thatcher Memorial Library of Philadelphia to research Kane and runs into the steely, no-nonsense presence of the librarian.
Where it was banned:
- United States: The film was not technically banned, but newspaper magnate and publisher Willian Randolph Hearst — who was the inspiration for the film’s main character — ran a dirty campaign to try and suppress the film, which included efforts of intimidation, blackmail, negative articles, and even FBI investigations. The film finally premiered in the U.S. in May 1941.
- Hungary: As per a reader comment below: “[I]n the documentary “Visions of Light,” cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond tells an interviewer that in Hungary “the movie played in theaters for just one week, then the [Communist] government pulled it.” He says the next chance to see it came years later, in a tiny screening room at a film school.”
A Clockwork Orange (1971):
Summary:
Sometime in the not-to-distant future, gangs of teenage thugs roam the streets and terrorize citizens. Alex, the leader of one of the gangs, is sent to prison, where there is, if I remember correctly, at least one scene is in the prison library. I need to rewatch the film to make sure!
Where it was banned:
- Canada: Provinces Alberta and Nova Scotia banned the film, but Alberta reversed the ban in 1999. The Maritime Film Classification Board has also reserved the ban, and both provinces have now granted an R rating to the film.
- Ireland: The film was banned due to its “extreme depictions of violence and rape.” The ban was lifted in 2000.
- Singapore: The film was banned for over 30 years. An unsuccessful attempt at releasing the ban was made in 2006, but the ban was not lifted until 2011, when the film was shown as part of the Perspectives Film Festival.
- South Africa: The film was banned under the apartheid regime for 13 years, then released with minor cuts and only available for people aged 21+.
- South Korea: The film was banned due to “depictions of violence and gang rape,” but the ban has since been lifted.
- United Kingdom: When the film was first released without cuts in the UK, it created a huge uproar because of its depiction of violence, and stories soon began circulating about “copycat” crimes. Kubrick also allegedly received death threats against his family. The film was then withdrawn from the UK for 27 years. The film returned to British screens in 2000, after director Kubrick’s death in 1999.
- United States: The film was not banned in the U.S., but Kubrick was forced to cut 30 seconds of the film to transition from an X rating to an R rating.
Confessions of a Nazi Spy (1939):
Summary:
WWII propaganda film about a G-Man (Edward G. Robinson) who investigates a Nazi spy ring in the United States. There is a brief but important scene in the New York Public Library’s periodicals room.
Read here for my detailed analysis post of Confessions of a Nazi Spy.
Where it was banned:
- Nazi Germany: Banned by Adolf Hitler because it was the first anti-Nazi movie made in Hollywood. Hitler also banned all Warner Bros. films and reportedly planned to execute the makers of this film upon winning the war. This film was not publicly screened in Germany until 1977.
The Da Vinci Code (2006):
Summary:
An adaptation of the controversial Dan Brown adventure and mystery thriller involving a murder in the Louvre and a quest to find the Holy Grail. In the book, the main character, Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks), is a historian, and goes to a library for research. I need to rewatch the film, but if I remember correctly, that library scene was changed to a Google search on Langdon’s cell phone. I need to rewatch the film to make sure!
Where it was banned:
- China: It was withdrawn from cinemas three weeks after the film’s release for “blasphemous content” and political reasons for upsetting Catholics in China.
- Egypt: “Blasphemous content”
- India: Banned in several states in India, includingPunjab, Goa, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, for its “perceived anti-Christian message.”
- Jordan: “Blasphemous content”
- Lebanon: “Blasphemous content”
- Malaysia
- Pakistan: Banned due to protest by the Christian community in Pakistan, due to “blasphemous content”
- Philippines: “Blasphemous content”
- Samoa: The film was banned outright after church leaders watching a pre-release showing filed a complaint with film censors. This banned included local television stations in Samoa, as well as the country’s only cinema. The government censorship office also prohibited the sale or rental of future VHS and DVD versions of the film.
- Solomon Islands: Banned by Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare, who states that the film “undermines the very roots of Christianity in Solomon Islands.”
Elephant (2003):
Summary:
A drama edited, written, and directed by Gus Van Sant, chronicling the events surrounding a school shooting, based in part on the 1999 Columbine High School massacre. There are a few scenes in the school library, including a school librarian and a student library worker.
Where it was banned:
- Malaysia
Ghostbusters (2016):
Summary:
An all-female reboot of the classic film. There is a library scene featured in the film’s trailer, but I have not been able to watch this film yet to determine if it’s a reel librarian or not.
Read here for my analysis of the film’s trailer.
Where it was banned:
- China: Despite dropping the Chinese character for “ghost” from its Chinese title, the film was barred from premiering in the country.
The Girl Next Door (2004):
Summary:
A romantic comedy about a high school senior who falls in love with the girl next door, before learning but that she is a former pornographic actress. At the end of the film, the main character breaks into the high school library to shoot a porn video.
Where it was banned:
- Malaysia
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2012):
Summary:
American version of the Swedish novel about a disgraced journalist (Daniel Craig) who investigates the 40-year disappearance of a young woman. He is aided in his search by a punk investigator/computer hacker, Lisbeth Salander (Rooney Mara). Late in the film, Lisbeth researches records in a company’s archives, disgruntling an older archives librarian.
Read here for my detailed analysis post of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.
Where it was banned:
- India: The film was banned for its “adult scenes of rape and torture,” and director David Fincher refused to cut scenes demanded by the Central Board of Film Certification.
- Vietnam: It was banned because its international distributor, Sony Pictures, did not accept the requirement by the Vietnamese National Film Board to cut some sensitive scenes.
Peeping Tom (aka Face of Fear; Fotographer of Panic, 1960):
Summary:
A young man (Carl Boehm) uses a handheld movie camera to film the dying expressions of girls he murders. Helen (Anna Massey) is a young woman who befriends him, and she reveals in one scene that she works at the public library.
Where it was banned:
- Finland: Banned for 21 years
- United Kingdom: This film was very controversial, blasted by critics, and pulled from theaters. Director Michael Powell’s career never recovered, although the film has subsequently earned critical praise.
The Reader (2008):
Summary:
German-American film about Michael Berg, a German lawyer who, as a teenager in 1958, has an affair with an older woman, Hanna Schmitz (Kate Winslet, in an Oscar-winning performance), who resurfaces years later in a war crimes trial about from her actions as a guard at a Nazi concentration camp. Hanna learns to read in the prison library and with the help of the prison librarian.
Where it was banned:
- Malaysia
Sex and the City (2008):
Summary:
Movie sequel to the HBO comedy series of the same name about four female friends in New York City: Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker), Samantha Jones (Kim Cattrall), Charlotte York Goldenblatt (Kristin Davis), and Miranda Hobbes (Cynthia Nixon). Carrie sees a wedding at the New York Public Library while returning a book, which inspires her to hold her upcoming wedding there, too.
Where it was banned:
- Malaysia
The Shawshank Redemption (1994):
Summary:
In this modern classic, young banker Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) is sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of his wife. Andy maintains his innocence and plots to escape. Andy works as an assistant in the prison library and becomes friends with the prison librarian, Brooks.
Where it was banned:
- Malaysia: For “depiction of cruelty, profanity, and violence.” It was later released on DVD.
The Silence of the Lambs (1991):
Summary:
American horror-thriller film directed by Jonathan Demme and starring Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins in two Oscar-winning roles. In the film, Clarice Starling, a young U.S. FBI trainee, seeks the advice of the imprisoned Dr. Lecter to apprehend another serial killer. In one scene, Clarice looks at newspapers on microfilm to learn more about Hannibal Lecter’s past. I need to rewatch it to doublecheck if this or other scenes include or mention a library or librarians.
Where it was banned:
- Malaysia
Sleeping with the Enemy (1990):
Summary:
Sara Waters (Julia Roberts) fakes her own death to escape her abusive husband (Patrick Bergin), and he comes after her once he discovers the deception. When Sara relocates to a small town, she starts working at the public library.
Where it was banned:
- Malaysia
Spotlight (2015):
Summary:
Best Picture winner for 2015. Focuses on the Boston Globe “Spotlight” team of reporters who published a series of stories in 2002 about Catholic priests who, for decades, had been sexually abusing children in their parishes. A few scenes and montages feature the Boston Globe news librarians and research methods of using church directories to track down priests.
Read here for my detailed analysis post of Spotlight.
Where it was banned:
- Lebanon: The film was technically not banned by the country’s government. Instead, the country’s film distributors made a collective decision to self-censor the film by not presenting it to the General Security censors, which kept the film from being shown in the country. The reason was due to the “sensitive” topic of the film, the topic of child sexual abuse by Catholic priests.
The Ten (2007):
Summary:
The film is comprised of ten stories, each inspired by one of the Ten Commandments. Chaper two, “Thou Shalt Not Take the Lord’s Name in Vain,” stars Gretchen Mol as a librarian who experiences a sexual awakening in Mexico with a local man (Justin Theroux) who turns out to be Jesus Christ.
Where it was banned:
- Malaysia
Have you seen any of these reel librarian movies that have been banned or suppressed? Are you inspired now to watch any of them? Does your library shine the spotlight on censorship during Banned Books Week?
Please leave a comment and share!
Sources used:
- Dirks, Tim, “The 100+ Most Controversial Films of All-Time,” AMC Filmsite, n.d.
- “Film Censorship in China,” Wikipedia, CC BY SA 3.0 license.
- Khalife, Leyal, “5 Films that were Banned in Lebanon Other than ‘Wonder Woman’,” Step Feed, 2017.
- “List of Banned Films,” Wikipedia, CC BY SA 3.0 license.
- “List of Films Banned in India,” Wikipedia, CC BY SA 3.0 license.
- “List of Films Banned in Malaysia,” Wikipedia, CC BY SA 3.0 license.
- “List of Films Banned in Pakistan,” Wikipedia, CC BY SA 3.0 license.
- “List of Films Banned in the United Kingdom,” Wikipedia, CC BY SA 3.0 license.
- “Motion Picture Production Code,” Wikipedia, CC BY SA 3.0 license.
- Pillai, Shruti, “17 International Films that Were Banned In India By The Censor Board,” Scoop Whoop, 2016.
- Robertson, Victoria, “15 Controversial Movies that have been Banned Around the World.” Screen Rant, 2015.
- Sabelhaus, Clare, “Top 10 Movies that have been Banned Around the World,” Listverse, 2017.
REEL LIBRARIANS 
Boy, it’s hard to see movies in Malaysia!
Some additional info on Citizen Kane: in the documentary “Visions of Light,” cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond tells an interviewer that in Hungary “the movie played in theaters for just one week, then the [Communist] government pulled it.” He says the next chance to see it came years later, in a tiny screening room at a film school. He doesn’t say why it was pulled (the government probably didn’t give reasons), but it sounds likely.
Thanks for adding this to the “Citizen Kane” list! I will update the post 🙂