The role of the BBFC - Hartt

The BBFC stands for British Boards of Film Classification, it sets specific boundaries for age groups so that only audience members of the correct age view the film and young people do not view anything unsuitable. The BBFC restricts ages and is a form of protection for the community, it allows the audience to look up into a film before actually watching it, this is useful as it lets the audience know what they are about to watch without them having to actually watch it allowing them to make a decision before hand whether themselves or other audience members will be able to cope with the movie. It is a good guide for parental use as they may not always be sure on what is suitable for their children, the IMDB page has film classifications/parental guides to all their movies this is because of the BBFC.

There are 6 main film certificates given to films once they are released.

U - The 'U' symbol stands for Universal. This means the film is suitable for all ages usually ranged from four years and over. This film rating is aimed at very young viewers, for a film to receive a 'U' certificate it must contain no significant issues in terms of discrimination, drugs, horror, imitable behavior, language, nudity, sex, theme or violence.
Language - There is very mild bad language if any used in 'U' rated movies such as 'damn' or 'bugger'. This is only allowed when justified by the context.
Sexual Activity- Characters may only be seen kissing or cuddling and there may be some references to sexual behavior, however this is never allowed to be a main focus. Heterosexual and homosexual  behavior are treated the same very mild gay references can be shown on a 'U' film.
Violence- Brief fight scenes or dangerous activities are allowed, however they must be solved very quickly and the outcome must be reassuring to the audience. 'Baddie's' are allowed weapons but there is not allowed to be any emphasis on these weapons at all, the 'Hero' usually will not have a weapon to balance this out.
Example - 'Murder 3' was given a 'U' certificate this is because of it's moderate tension and threat.

PG-  The 'PG' symbol stands for Parental Guidance. This means the film is suitable for most viewers but some scene's within the film may not be suitable for slightly younger viewers. If a parents child is slightly sensitive or in a lower age bracket, this is where parental guidance is needed when viewing. Some PG films are not made for younger audiences unlike the majority of U certificate films. A recent example of this would be 'The Artist'. This should not upset a child over the age of 8 at all.
Language - Slightly less mild language is allowed to be used within a PG movie, words such as 'shit' and 'bitch' would be acceptable, the context is important though while using this language. This means that if the language is used in a aggressive way or if there is too much of it the film will then be passed up to the next category.
Sexual Activity- References to sex in itself is acceptable, this is if is talked about or implied without too much detail. It may be placed inside comedy if is is unlikely to be understood by a child. The same applies to heterosexual and homosexual sex and sexual references.
Violence - There is allowed to be some blood in a PG movie, however the audience is not allowed to see how the injury was inflicted in strong detail if any. Some 'jump' movements and scary scenes are allowed, however if the sequence involves realistic violence then it is not allowed to be prolonged.
Example - 'Jurassic Park' was given a 'PG' certificate this is because of it's mild profanity and well reasoned violence/gore.

12/12A - The only difference between 12 and 12A is that 12A's are only used to certificate movies in the cinema otherwise 12 is used to certificate videos, DVD and Blu-rays. 12A means that anyone over the age of 12 can go and view the movie in cinema, the A stands for advisory, children under the age of 12 may see the film if they are accompanied by an adult (someone over the age of 18) who must watch the film with them. The reason why 12A was created was so films that some parents may think their children should be able to view that are rated 12 can be viewed under their warrant.
Language - Words such as 'bitch' and 'twat' may be used in a 12A movie but it must be infrequent. Aggressive uses of strong language may result in a film being risen into the 15 bracket. However there are some allowances.
Sexual Activity - Sex references may go no further than what is suitable for young teenagers. If innuendo's and moderate sex references are used then comedy needs to be used to lessen the impact. There may be some nudity in a 12A film but sexual nudity should be very brief and discrete.
Violence - There is not allowed to be any emphasis on injuries or blood, there is however allowed to be some gore when it is permitted and justified by context.
Example - The first 12A certificate was given to Batman this allowed the film to be a massive Blockbuster hit with a massive age variety because every 'little boy' wants to be a super hero. The film was allowed this certificate because it has mildly used bad language and very little emphasis on injuries or blood. This however was argued for some time as to whether the certificate should have been allowed.

15 - No-one under the age of 15 is allowed to view a 15 rated film in the cinema or buy/rent a 15 rated DVD. The BBFC say that these films are not suitable for anyone under the age of 15.
Language - There is allowed to be a great deal of bad language in a 15 movie, there is no limit o the number of uses of a strong word for example 'fuck'. They may also use the word 'cunt' although if this word is repeated too much or too aggressively it may be changed into the 18 age bracket.
Sexual Activity- As long as there is no strong graphical detail sexual activity can be portrayed.
Violence- Sexual violence can be allowed and may be detailed for example rape or assault, but only in court. But any portrayal of it must be discreet and have strong justification.
Example- 'House at the End of the Street' this has been given a 15 certificate because of its use of continuous bad language and sexual violence.

18 - An 18 rated film is for adults only, no-one under the age of 18 is allowed to buy/rent or view a film that is rated 18 if they are under this age, they are unsuitable for children. Adults are allowed to pick their own entertainment within the law, the themes therefore may be offensive to some adult viewers.
Language - Very strong language is used in most 18 rated movies, this allows the extreme use of the words 'fuck' and 'cunt'. There is no limit on how many times strong language can be used. Uses can be aggressive, directed, violent and frequent.
Sexual Activity- There can be strong and detailed portrayals of sex at 18 this includes full nudity. Crude and very strong explicit sex references.
Violence - The pain is allowed to be strong and in detail, there even may be some dwelling on the infliction of the pain or strong sadistic or sexual violence
Example - 'The Shining' has been given an 18 certificate because of its crude language and infliction on pain and very strong dwelling on violence.

R18 - The 'R18' category is a special and restricted classification used to protect children and teenagers from seeing anything consenting explicit sex or strong fetish involving adults. They are only allowed to be viewed in licensed cinemas and video works may supply them to adults but only in licensed sex shops. 'R18' videos are not allowed to be set out via post.