NC17?

To the OP, have you SEEN this film???

It IS violent. Very violent.

Actually, the NC-17 hadn't quite been invented yet when this film was submitted to the MPAA. They were still using the 'X' rating at the time. Two films submitted to the MPAA by Miramax Films that year (1990) received 'X' ratings, initially. They were "The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover" and Pedro Almodovar's "Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!". Miramax decided to simply release the films without a rating at all (or Not Rated), to release them uncut, but without the stigma of the X, which most people associate with porn.

So, in the initial theatrical run of "Cook, Thief", it was released Not Rated, but with a special advisory from the distributor that No One Under 18 would be Admitted.

Later, for home video, they released the regular, uncut theatrical version on video, plus they prepared a special "R" rated cut so that prudish chains like Blockbuster, who refused to stock 'Adults Only' titles, would carry the film in a cut form.

After finally seeing the 'R' tape, I found that ALL of the nudity and sex were intact in the cut version, even the cooked guy's genitalia. There were really only two noticeable cuts, in fact, and they both were due to violence, not sex or nudity. One small cut was to the screaming young boy when he's having his belly cut. That piercing scream he lets out as he's being cut, and then he faints, was cut out. After they threaten to do it, it basically cuts to the next scene. Another cut was when they killed the Lover, and the first shots of him vomiting blood while being stabbed in the throat were cut. All in all, it was just a few seconds to a couple of scenes. But I'm glad they left the film uncut for theatrical release, and that's the only version on DVD or blu ray (the uncut one).

As for "Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!", that was a different story. That could very easily have been a light R Rated film. The MPAA gave it an 'X' all because of two shots, each one a couple of seconds. One was where the scuba toy winds up between the woman's legs in the tub (a very brief, comical shot). And the other was an overhead shot in a ceiling mirror or two people having sex (nothing graphic shown; just the guy's butt). That film was also released uncut and Not Rated. (No One Under 18; per the distributor).

Later that year, NC-17 was invented, and "Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!" was re-submitted to the MPAA and received the NC-17 for home video release. "Cook, Thief" was never re-submitted, and is still considered Not Rated. The later DVD release of "Tie Me Up!" was also released Not Rated, so they must have surrendered the rating.

At the time, we must have had the most prudent, uptight MPAA ratings board members in history. Coming out of the Reagan-era 80s, a very conservative time and a very religious time, the MPAA members seemed to be some really uptight soccer moms or something. In 1990, a record number of films initially received the dreaded 'X' rating from the MPAA on their first pass. "Cook, Thief", "Tie Me Up!", as well as "Santa Sangre", "Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer", "Hardware", "Wild at Heart", "Total Recall", "Goodfellas", and "Henry and June" ALL initially received the X Rating. That was why NC-17 was finally invented, to do away with X, and "Henry and June" was the first ever NC-17 film. "Cook, Thief", "Tie Me Up!", "Henry: Serial Killer", and "Santa Sangre" were all released Not Rated. "Total Recall", "Hardware", and "Wild at Heart" were cut slightly for theatrical release. "Henry and June" was given NC-17. And, amazingly, MPAA president Jack Valenti allowed Martin Scorsese to argue his appeal directly to the MPAA, and he got his R, without changing a frame of "Goodfellas".

Looking back now, it's hard to see why most of those films couldn't have just received R Ratings.