# UK censors: Zimmer's Da Vinci code too tense



## Peter Emanuel Roos (May 9, 2006)

The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) has forced Sony to tone down the music in Ron Howard's film version of The Da Vinci Code, according to reports in the British press. Hans Zimmerâ€™s music was considered to be too â€tenseâ€ for young children, and the film censors demanded that the film company made changes to the soundtrack in order to get a 12A-certificate instead of a 15 certificate. Quoted by The Scotsman, a studio source said that â€everyone was full of praise for the score but BBFC felt that the way it was being used to build up tension was simply too much for very young childrenâ€. Sony also had to make changes to the sound effects in the film. The Da Vinci Code soundtrack comes out on Decca Records on May 16. 

*British Board of Film Classification and The Da Vinci Code*

I can't wait now to get that CD!


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## sin(x) (May 9, 2006)

WTF?

No, seriously, WTF?!

And here I was thinking that the Oblivion re-rating was going to be the epitome of minor protection gone wrong for some time...

Seriously, assuming that the score doesn't contain lyrics with graphic depictions of disemboweling scenes, this is one of the most silly things I've heard in a long time :roll:


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## Daryl (May 9, 2006)

Peter Roos @ Tue May 09 said:


> The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) has forced Sony to tone down the music in Ron Howard's film version of The Da Vinci Code, according to reports in the British press. Hans Zimmerâ€™s music was considered to be too â€tenseâ€ for young children, and the film censors demanded that the film company made changes to the soundtrack in order to get a 12A-certificate instead of a 15 certificate. Quoted by The Scotsman, a studio source said that â€everyone was full of praise for the score but BBFC felt that the way it was being used to build up tension was simply too much for very young childrenâ€. Sony also had to make changes to the sound effects in the film. The Da Vinci Code soundtrack comes out on Decca Records on May 16.
> 
> *British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) and The Da Vinci Code*
> 
> I can't wait now to get that CD!


Do they honestly think that 12 year olds are "young" children? So I suppose all the disembowelling is OK then. Sounds like more hype to me..........

D


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## Waywyn (May 9, 2006)

hehe, probably one of the responsible guys for turning down the score or change parts of it, is one of those typical guys:

"you know, when i was ten i played cello for 4 years and was singing in the local church choir, i pretty well have much knowledge about music ... and i say this soundtrack is too loud for childrens ears" :roll:


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## fitch (May 9, 2006)

serious WTF from here too .. !!!!


jayzzus!


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## sin(x) (May 9, 2006)

Waywyn @ 2006-05-09 said:


> "you know, when i was ten i played cello for 4 years and was singing in the local church choir, i pretty well have much knowledge about music ... and i say this soundtrack is too loud for childrens ears" :roll:



"Too many parallel fifths!" :lol:


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## wonshu (May 9, 2006)

Well... perhaps a publicity stunt?


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## sbkp (May 9, 2006)

At least all the violence got through the censors. We can be thankful for that!


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## Thonex (May 9, 2006)

sin(x) @ Tue May 09 said:


> "Too many parallel fifths!" :lol:



:lol: :lol:


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## PaulR (May 9, 2006)

Peter Roos @ Tue May 09 said:


> *British Board of Film Classification and The Da Vinci Code*



Yes - that's the BBFC for you all over. Pile of shyte - period. Always been the same. WTF are young children going to be doing watching this film in the first place? Can only mean one thing - the film is a highly watered down version of the book - made for maximum gain. Which is fine, because the story, while being quite good and an all round easy-to-read thriller, is basically a load of old bollocks.

I enjoyed it though.


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## tgfoo (May 9, 2006)

PaulR @ Tue May 09 said:


> Peter Roos @ Tue May 09 said:
> 
> 
> > *British Board of Film Classification and The Da Vinci Code*
> ...



But isn't that how 99% of book to movie convertions are anyways?

And another giant WFT here too. This has got to be the worst reason for a rating change I've ever heard...


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## PaulR (May 9, 2006)

tgfoo @ Tue May 09 said:


> But isn't that how 99% of book to movie convertions are anyways?
> 
> And another giant WFT here too. This has got to be the worst reason for a rating change I've ever heard...



Well yes - I suppose that's reasonable without giving it too much thought. What makes me laugh about the BBFC though - goes back for years and years. Take 1960. Two British directors vying it out. One is Hitchcock and Psycho - more or less uncensored - the other Michael Powell and Peeping Tom - cut to shreds at the time. Both films have extremely violent content in them, although you don't really see it that much. The furor over Powell's film with the public and the sensors didn't really have that much to do with the violence though (another scene altogether actually) - which is amazing.

Fast forward to 2006 - and WTF is always the way to go with today's cinema. Children can watch either of the two above films on TV - no problem. So what exactly the BBFC think is going to upset them re: the music in The Da Vinci Code is - f**k only knows. But that's the nanny state of Britain today.


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## madbulk (May 9, 2006)

wonshu @ Tue May 09 said:


> Well... perhaps a publicity stunt?


I'm likewise inclined toward the base-est explanation.


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## choc0thrax (May 9, 2006)

josejherring @ Tue May 09 said:


> Holy mother of God!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
> 
> What a pile of Crap. Of course the studios being as spineless as they are instead of taking a harder rating went back to Zimmer and said," your score, it's too good. Can ya be more mediocre." :roll:



I dunno i've been listening to the davinci code a lot lately and there's no risk of it being too good.  It's not bad either though...if you like batman begins and hannibal.


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## Trev Parks (May 9, 2006)

PaulR @ Tue May 09 said:


> violence though (another scene altogether actually) - which is amazing.
> 
> Fast forward to 2006 - and WTF is always the way to go with today's cinema. Children can watch either of the two above films on TV - no problem. So what exactly the BBFC think is going to upset them re: the music in The Da Vinci Code is - f**k only knows. But that's the nanny state of Britain today.



You are so very right. Short of the composer hiring Prince to sing "You secret Motherfucker" over the opening credits, I can't begin to think what on earth would be considered as musically too intense for kids. Better lay off playing any Penderecki indoors and stick on some old Brian Cant nursery rhymes to soothe their nerves.

What else can you expect from a country that is making all the local CCTVs in a town available for free resident viewing so everybody can play Big Brother. I'm beginning to wonder if its a game dreamed up the government: release un-deported rapists and murderers back into society and then see if you can spot them on your tv set before they get to you.

Sorry.....totally off the point.


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## ComposerDude (May 9, 2006)

A step further...what if a score were too scary for adults...

Imagine, a score so scary that the *musicians* themselves run screaming from the scoring stage (and not just because of dissonance).

And the release will be delayed "because we had to custom-fit protective earplugs to all the orchestra members"...

Monty Python could do a good bit on this.


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## Stephen Rees (May 9, 2006)

Trev Parks @ Tue May 09 said:


> Better lay off playing any Penderecki indoors and stick on some old Brian Cant nursery rhymes to soothe their nerves.



Goodbye 'De Natura Sonoris No.1', hello 'P L A Y playawayplayplayawayayayaplayplayaway'. Awesome. And the fact I can remember that after 30 years is quite scary.


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## choc0thrax (May 9, 2006)

ComposerDude @ Tue May 09 said:


> And the release will be delayed "because we had to custom-fit protective earplugs to all the orchestra members"...



I would've thought Zimmer recording sessions would already have those on hand and ready? :smile:


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## Ed (May 9, 2006)

BBFC are so very inconsistent. They give the new Battlestar Galactica a 12 rating, which has quite a lot of sex, and even I would have given it a 15 certificate. Yet Zimmers music is too "intense" so gee that means 12 year olds wil get scared OOOOH???!


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## sbkp (May 9, 2006)

ComposerDude @ Tue May 09 said:


> A step further...what if a score were too scary for adults...
> 
> Imagine, a score so scary that the *musicians* themselves run screaming from the scoring stage (and not just because of dissonance).
> 
> ...



Sort of like this, for those who may not know of it... 

http://www.jumpstation.ca/recroom/comedy/python/joke.html (http://www.jumpstation.ca/recroom/comed ... /joke.html)


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## Scott Rogers (May 9, 2006)

..........


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## ComposerDude (May 9, 2006)

It sent cellos up their spines.


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## Peter Emanuel Roos (May 9, 2006)

Scott Rogers @ Tue May 09 said:


> I have it from a reliable source that it was just a simple misunderstanding. As they were screening the film, someone said, "This movie has too much violence", but they were mistakenly thought to have said, "This movie has too much _violins_."



ROFL!!! :mrgreen:


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## TARI (May 9, 2006)

sbkp @ Tue May 09 said:


> At least all the violence got through the censors. We can be thankful for that!


I agree! It is ridiculous...no words...


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## Niah (May 9, 2006)

It's commercial opportunism at its finest.

Instead of leaving the film as it is and raising the rating, they lower the rating so they can have a larger target audience and thus make more money with the film.


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## Evan Gamble (May 9, 2006)

so will the original version be released on the album? but not in the movie? Or are they changing it all-thats what I would guess.


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## rJames (May 9, 2006)

Scott Rogers @ Tue May 09 said:


> I have it from a reliable source that it was just a simple misunderstanding. As they were screening the film, someone said, "This movie has too much violence", but they were mistakenly thought to have said, "This movie has too much _violins_."



I think it was Chico who said that in, "Duck Soup."


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## Waywyn (May 10, 2006)

Scott Rogers @ Tue May 09 said:


> I have it from a reliable source that it was just a simple misunderstanding. As they were screening the film, someone said, "This movie has too much violence", but they were mistakenly thought to have said, "This movie has too much _violins_."



:mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:


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## Peter Emanuel Roos (May 10, 2006)

Evan Gamble @ Wed May 10 said:


> so will the original version be released on the album? but not in the movie? Or are they changing it all-thats what I would guess.



I cannot imagine that this British initiative will affect the worldwide publishing of the score. Anyway, I guess the CD's are already produced as it will be released next week.

Hehe, a socre with a 15+ rating, lol


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## Dr.Quest (May 10, 2006)

The score is now for sale on iTunes. Now's your chance to hear how tense it is!
Probably will DL it later today.
J


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## Peter Emanuel Roos (May 10, 2006)

I have not yet used iTunes - at what bitrate is their music encoded?


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## tgfoo (May 10, 2006)

128 kbps. I'm downloading it now. So far nothing that I would consider too "tense".


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## Peter Emanuel Roos (May 10, 2006)

I will wait until next week and buy the CD. I think 128 mbit is way too low for orchestral music... Should be at least 192 WMA or 256 MP3.


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## Waywyn (May 10, 2006)

Don't you get 320 mbit on iTunes? I guess so.


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## choc0thrax (May 10, 2006)

Yuck why would anyone buy off Itunes when their music is locked. Bought some Itunes music and can't even put it on my mp3 player.


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## Waywyn (May 10, 2006)

choc0thrax @ Wed May 10 said:


> Yuck why would anyone buy off Itunes when their music is locked. Bought some Itunes music and can't even put it on my mp3 player.



huh? i was able to burn it on cd, but mp3 player didn't try. i am sure something went wrong with your setup.


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## Brian Ralston (May 10, 2006)

choc0thrax @ Wed May 10 said:


> Yuck why would anyone buy off Itunes when their music is locked. Bought some Itunes music and can't even put it on my mp3 player.



I believe iTunes does not deliver MP3 files, they deliver Apple's AAC files...which for most genres are actually better sounding than MP3 compression. The AAC files can then be controlled as to what iTunes machines one is authorized to play them on. Regardless...burn them to a CD and re-rip them to MP3. iTunes defaults to AAC, you have to go into the preferences settings to change the default codec to MP3.


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## choc0thrax (May 10, 2006)

Thing is they aren't mp3's but "protected AAC audio file".


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## Peter Emanuel Roos (May 10, 2006)

As I said, I will wait until I can buy the unprotected, unencoded CD :wink: 

silly internet stuff... :razz:


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## Dr.Quest (May 11, 2006)

I just listened to this score this morning. There is nothing even remotely "too tense". It's a good score. Batman Begins in some places...spooky big choir in others. Very nice stuff.
That film board definetly has it's collective head up it's @$$.
Cheers,
J

Oh, and Peter...you're right, this internet thing will never catch on. Let's stick with wire recordings and wax cylinders. :wink: 
Cheers,
J


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## tgfoo (May 11, 2006)

Yeah, I definitely didn't find it too "tense" either. I did really like the use of the choirs in parts of the score though. I thought it was good, but wouldn't say it was great.


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