Controversial film had sex scene so graphic it had to be banned in parts of the country

In 1996, a movie released which won a prize at the Cannes Film Festival, but was booed by audiences who'd seen it there.

Movie director David Cronenberg claims that Godfather director Francis Ford Coppola blocked the film from receiving the Palme d'Or.

It ended up receiving a Special Jury Prize created especially for the film, but even then Cronenberg was booed when he accepted the award.

New Line Cinema

Meanwhile it ended up being banned in certain parts of the UK when the film was released to general audiences.

That's in part because the movie had such controversial sex scenes, with vivid depictions of graphic sex a key part of the movie.

When it was screened at Cannes a film critic described the movie as 'beyond the bounds of depravity' and on the day it was premiered in the UK, the Daily Mail started a campaign to get the film banned.

The movie's release was delayed all over the world due to uproar and backlash, and even after eventually getting the green light, there were some parts of the UK which didn't show the film.

New Line Cinemas

This film is the 1996 movie Crash, which is not to be confused with the 2004 movie of the same name which won the Best Picture award at the Oscars, a decision which made a lot of people very angry and has been widely regarded as a bad move.

Based on the 1973 novel of the same name from British author J.G. Ballard, Crash follows the story of a guy (James Spader) who nearly dies in a car crash and ends up being very aroused by the whole experience.

Check out the trailer below if you have the stomach for it:

The film really does not pull any punches with the sex scenes, including one where our main character has sex with a disabled woman (played by Rosanna Arquette) by penetrating a scar on her leg.

In the end, James runs his wife Catherine (Deborah Kara Unger) off the road before they have sex by the wreckage.

When it came time for the movie to premiere at the London Film Festival it had to get special permission from Westminster Council.

Alliance

When the Daily Mail demanded to 'ban this car crash sex film' the BBFC decided to seek expert advice.

They sought out a legal opinion on whether the movie was obscene and asked a psychologist to advise them whether Crash would provoke copycat behaviour.

Both said the movie ought to be alright, and when the film was screened to 11 disabled people they 'did not generally enjoy the film' but found the movie's portrayal of disability to be 'generally a positive thing'.

Having been held up for several months, Crash finally received an 18 certificate in 1997 and was released uncut, which really did not go down well with the papers campaigning to outright ban the movie.

However, one place in the UK the movie was banned in was the spot it had first been screened as Westminster Council refused to let cinemas in their area show Crash until certain bits had been cut out.

The filmmakers refused to cut down their movie and so the movie remained banned in the West End.

Fortunately for anyone who wanted to see this film other cinema-having parts of the UK were, and continue to be, available.