Neon picked up distribution rights to the drama earlier this year and for now is planning a release in the fall. Next up for Lee is the lesbian romance “Ammonite,” starring Kate Winslet and Saoirse Ronan. Lee posted a follow-up Tweet earlier today that reads: “I’m interested if any of you have evidence of Amazon Prime USA censoring naked women or intimate/sex scenes within heterosexual stories on their streaming service? Or if they just censor queer stories?” Another edit reportedly cuts a sex scene between Johnny and an auctioneer in a cattle trailer. Some of Lee’s social media followers responded to his message (via NME) saying Amazon Prime censored one sex scene in which Johnny and Gheorghe wrestle in the mud and perform oral sex on each other.
Unlike gay romances such as “Brokeback Mountain” and “Call Me by Your Name,” “God’s Own Country” depicts explicit sex scenes and full frontal male nudity. The family hires a Romanian migrant worker named Gheorghe (Alec Secăreanu) to help assist with lambing season, and the two men form a romantic bond that tests their defenses. The film stars Josh O’Connor as a tough Yorkshire farmhand named Johnny, who’s forced to tend to his family’s land after his father suffers a stroke. Lee world premiered “God’s Own Country” at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival, where it was awarded the World Cinema Directing prize. I would like to thank Amazon Prime for being supportive and I would caution any filmmaker of working with the aforementioned ‘distributor.’ Thank you everyone for for all your support.” The rental version of ‘God’s Own Country’ on Prime Video is the correct version of my film. IndieWire has reached out to Samuel Goldwyn Films for comment.ĭirector Francis Lee confirmed the news in a Twitter post, writing: “After investigation, ‘God’s Own Country’ was not censored by Prime Video (Amazon USA) but by the US distributor Goldwyn Films who butchered the streaming version without consultation to get more ‘revenue.’ Prime Video were incredibly supportive in rectifying. The original theatrical cut is still available for rent or purchase. The censored cut has since been pulled from Amazon Prime.
By censoring “God’s Own Country,” the free stream of the film available for Prime subscribers bypassed an explicit rating and thus increased its visibility on the website.
Films uploaded through Prime Video Direct that contain depictions of pornography or explicit depictions of sexual acts or nudity are labeled as featuring “sexually explicit content,” which prevents the title from appearing on certain carousels on the Prime Video website. You can watch "Rocky Horror Picture Show" on Disney+ or by renting it or buying it through AppleTV or Amazon Prime.Update (4:20pm ET): Sources close to Amazon Prime tell IndieWire the censored cut of “God’s Own Country” was uploaded by distributor Samuel Goldwyn Films through the company’s Prime Video Direct service.
The movie has and continues to provide a home and community for those who feel like they don't belong. Thomas points out that for many, going to screenings of "Rocky Horror" was the equivalent of going to a gay bar, something that was a rare find when the movie first came out. What was once just people talking back to the movie turned into people dressing up in full make-up and costume, and acting out the movie as the movie's being played behind them. Whether you're gay, a theater kid, or both, chances are you've been - or at least been invited to - a midnight showing of "Rocky Horror Picture Show." June Thomas tells Slate that the audience participation started just five months into the movie's run. "Rocky Horror," which came out only six years after the Stonewall Uprising, the unofficial kickoff of the gay rights movement, has been a cornerstone of queer community and culture.