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Interview: Steve McQueen puts the MPAA ratings system to Shame

DID YOU HAVE IN MIND A SPECIFIC CAUSE FOR BRANDON'S ADDICTION? I didn't want to have a specific cause for his problem. Of course they allude to it in the background, but I didn't want him to have a get-out. There was a potential situation suggested which could have been a cause, but it wasn't so pointed.

In most other films people are talking about themselves — about who they are, where they come from. In reality that never happens. What I wanted to do in this film was to show how at some point in the present the past is illuminated. For example, when Brandon walks in on Sissy [his sister, played by Carey Mulligan] in the bathroom. That gives you some idea about their relationship. That's what I was interested in, stimulating the audience within the narrative.

ACCORDING TO THE MPAA, SOME OF THE STIMULATION IN THIS MOVIE IS NOT APPROPRIATE FOR ALL AUDIENCES. COULD YOU COMMENT ON THE NC-17 RATING YOU RECEIVED? I don't care about it as long as people are allowed to see the film. This is a very responsible film. This isn't about shooting people in the head. This is about people having difficulty with sex. Just about everyone has had sex and has seen someone of the opposite sex naked. There's only a very small minority of people who have shot someone in the head, but apparently that's the kind of thing that can be seen in the cinema. 

>> READ: Review: Shame <<

CAN YOU TALK ABOUT YOUR "QUEEN AND COUNTRY" PROJECT, IN WHICH YOU ARE TRYING TO GET THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT TO ISSUE A SERIES OF STAMPS WITH THE PICTURES OF SOLDIERS WHO DIED IN IRAQ? IT'S BEEN HELD UP; WHAT'S THE PROBLEM? I don't know. Maybe they're afraid to see the faces of the people they sent to war and who died. The door isn't closed yet, however. We're still trying. But the families have been through enough. I didn't want to push them too much. My first responsibility is to the parents and relatives and next of kin. Hopefully, one day people will see the light.