'Mr. Turner' Draws More Complaints Than Any Other Movie Of 2014
A fully-clothed sex scene in the JMW Turner biopic was the most complained-about film in Britain in 2014, according to the BBFC's annual report.
Mr. Turner has been surrounded by some confusing news stories ever since its release (like, why wasn’t it nominated for any of the major prizes at the BAFTAs and Oscars?) but none quite as inexplicable as this one. The British Board of Film Classification named the Mike Leigh-directed biopic as the most complained-about movie of 2014, because of a scene in which lead actor Timothy Spall “vigorously” clenches his buttocks, according to the Guardian.
The BBFC, which awards age certification for movies released in Britain, said that the scene featuring the artist JMW Turner and his housekeeper, played by Marion Bailey, in which Spall’s “clothed buttocks are seen clenching vigorously, before the scene cuts to a close-up of his face and his thrusting head and shoulders”, caused 19 people to complain about its sexual nature in a film deemed to be of 12A suitability.
Timothy Spall in Mr. Turner, bizarrely the most complained-about film in 2014
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