You're reading: What is not right with movie ‘The Kids Are All Right’?

It apparently wasn’t the plot about a lesbian family that got Oscar-nominated film “The Kids Are All Right” restricted by Ukrainian censorship.

What really offended the Commission of Experts at the Ministry of Culture was a scene where the couple is shown watching gay porn.

The film – directed by Lisa Cholodenko, an American director of Ukrainian origin – was nominated for four Academy Awards, but that wasn’t enough to impress the panel, which restricted showings to adults (18 or older) at unpopular times on a limited number of screens.

Other films to fall foul of curbs from the Ukrainian censor include “Borat,” “Saw,” and “Hostel.” “Bruno” was banned outright.

“Our society and the expert commission itself are not prepared for such movies. I guess that’s the reason for banning this film,” said Alexandra Kovaleva, a spokeswoman for art-house film distributor Arthousetraffic, which is distributing the film in Ukraine.

“The Kids Are All Right” is a drama with some ironic elements and funny moments in a lesbian family relationship. Two women – Nic and Jules – are raising two children, teenagers conceived by artificial insemination. The elder daughter Joni is 18 and about to leave for college. Laser is 15 and when he suddenly finds out he was conceived by artificial insemination he wishes to find his biological father.

Laser meets his father Paul, who is idling life away without thinking of family and children. Paul is a free man, and his flirtation with Jules soon turns into something more serious, putting the strength of her relationship with Nic to the test.

Chodolenko is herself a lesbian and an avid author of art-house films about homosexual relationships. She is in a relationship with guitarist Wendy Melvoin and has also given birth to son Calder, 5, from an anonymous sperm donor.

The film was critically acclaimed, but Ukrainian censors were unimpressed.

“It is not because of the lesbian couple, it is because of the scene where women are watching a gay porn film. Such scenes are intended for a mature viewer. I have chosen the age limit of 18 and I’m responsible for this decision,” said Serhiy Vasilyev, an art critic who is on the Ministry’s of Culture’s commission.

Ukrainian film critic Alik Shpilyuk, another panel member, disagreed with his colleagues – most of whom voted for it to be only for over-18s – and tagged the film for anyone older than 16.

“I can imagine that the film about a lesbian family isn’t very accessible yet to the immature Ukrainian consciousness,” he said. “Everyone can watch the brutal reports and news that are often shown on television, but along comes an artistic film, precise, humanistic, which touches the theme of relationships – and it’s a completely different matter.”

Kovaleva from Arthousetraffic said the commission also reduced the number of movie theaters showing the film and forced the distributor to reschedule some screenings at inconvenient times, such as early in the morning or late in the evening.

According to the Internet Movie Database “The Kids Are All Right” is an R-rated film in the United States, recommended for people under 17 only with an accompanying adult. In the United Kingdom it can be watched by anyone over 15 and in Germany youngsters over 12 are allowed into theaters.

“It is a stylishly made movie, but I don’t understand what it’s got to do with children,” Vasilyev said. “It probably has something to do with German laws that there are no limits for people from 12. Such things are not acceptable in our country.”

The film’s being screened in Ukrainian. To watch it in English, buy it online or in DVD stores.

Kyiv Post staff writer Alina Shumova can be reached at [email protected]