KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 8 — A Hollywood film on one of the world’s first sex operations, Danish Girl has been banned by the Malaysian Censorship Board.
United International Pictures (UIP) Malaysia, the distributor for the film starring Eddie Redmayne, confirmed with Malay Mail Online that the film has been banned here.
“Yes. The decision was made by the censorship board … You may have to refer to the Censorship Board for further details as that was their decision,” UIP Malaysia marketing executive Michelle Ng told Malay Mail Online.
News portal Malaysiakini also reported earlier that the film was not on the censorship department’s list of banned movie last month. The film has also been aired in Singapore since last month.
The film however has also been banned in several majority Muslim countries including Qatar Oman, Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates for failing to pass local censors, according to film site The Hollywood Reporter (THR).
Danish Girl was banned in Qatar after screening for four days because social media users were unhappy with the alleged “moral depravity” shown in the movie.
“The decision followed complaints on social media, with one Twitter user accusing the drama of containing “enough moral depravity to go around the world.”
Qatar’s Ministry of Culture later said on social media that the film had been banned and thanked those concerned for their “unwavering vigilance”, the article on THR said.
The 2015 biographical drama movie is loosely based on the lives of Danish painters Lili Wbe and Gerds Wegener. Elbe is known as one of the first recipients of sex reassignment surgery.
According to film database site IMDb, the film has some nudity scenes including a full frontal scene of both lead actors.
“The protagonist and his wife are in the beginning stages of him discovering he is a woman and they make love. She is completely naked and we see her breasts, butt, and parts of the vulva for about one minute.
“There is a scene where the protagonist is seen exploring and scrutinizing his body in front of a mirror before he tucks his genitals between his legs to hide it from view,” the review read.
