07/12/2005

Luxemburgish film and history teacher Paul Lesch has published his new book "In the name of public order and morality: Cinema control and film censorship in Luxembourg 1895-2005", a first step in the necessary work of charting cinema-going in Luxembourg since films where first shown there 110 years ago. The book is published simultaneously in both English and the original French, in which it is called "Au nom de l’ordre public et des bonnes mœurs: Contrôle des cinémas et censure de films au Luxembourg 1895-2005".

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Edited and sold by the Centre national de l’audiovisuel, Lesch’s book dives headlong into the issues surrounding cinematic exploitation. The multilingual Roman-Catholic country now offers the best of French, German and international cinema, but throughout its history quite a few titles have been banned, censored or mutilated for either socio-political or religious reasons. Ucicky’s 1933 film Morgenrot, made just days after Hitler seized power, was forbidden for its pro-Nazi message, whilst almost all American, British and French films were forbidden during the Nazi occupation. In the 1960s and 1970s, the Catholic-inspired laws made state officials seize or re-cut films such as Quiet days at Clichy (Jours Tranquilles à Clichy) and Last tango in Paris, because they were considered pornographic. The fate of both films was fought out in court.

Lesch’s work is illustrated with stills and posters as well as satirical drawings from newspapers of the time. To celebrate its publication the Cinémathèque in Luxembourg (owned by the state no less) is showing several of the originally banned or censored films including the above mentioned Tango and Clichy as well as Forst’s Die Sünderin, Jaeckin’s Histoire d’O and Buñuel’s Viridiana.