Sometimes you think you have a grip on the country you live in…and then you hear or read about something that just seems impossible- like the MPAA. Thank goodness for this hilarious look at what has to be one of the most bizarre aspects of the American film industry.

Most people probably don’t know that there is a secret group of “parents” that meet to rate films based on arbitrary discussions of things like amount of naughty words, the placement of the camera during sexual scenes, the general “tone” of a movie, and who knows what else? Unfortunately, as numerous filmmakers interviewed in the film point out, this wacko institution has some pretty far-reaching impacts on what movies are successful, how they can be marketed, and what “version” of an artist’s work you actually get to see.

As Kevin Smith, John Waters, and Lawrence Lessig all point out, this is fundamentally censorship; and it affects the non-mainstream, independent filmmaker the most. The premise behind the film is that Kirby Dick (director) hires a private investigation team to reveal the truth about the MPAA. Along the way he documents other indie filmmakers experiences, while simultaneously taking his film through the actual process. It’s clever and funny while making an impact. I feel silly I have been watching movies all my life and had no idea this was going on. Check it out!

I mean I laughed lots and lots. Who would have thought that Matt Stone and John Waters might be so funny? With gentle humor, it explained why a certain kind of American movie seems to suck when compared to European movies—though I’ve seen a few stink-bombs from Europe, American movie makers seem to specialize in dreck—despite having a much larger budget. Oh, and there’s a p.i. All sorts of comedy ingredients.

Wait, it’s a documentary. My bad.

But, again, it was pretty telling about how in terms of ratings violence is ok, but real, non-simulated sex is bad. The MPAA’s real purpose, if this movie is any guide, is to limit what stories can be told to American audiences.

Worth seeing.

While I thought that This Film is Not Yet Rated was going to just be about censorship, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that it was a lot more. It cleverly tells the story of the MPAA rating board and manages to also give a glimpse into how the rating system actually operates and how the rationale behind it hasn’t really worked. By humanizing the process it paints a picture of current society and exposes the monopolistic nature of the motion picture business and those who fight to preserve the control of the screens where we watch films. With interviews with filmmakers and a brilliant sequence that does a split-screen comparison of virtually identical scenes with different ratings that seem to be based on the sexual orientation and not what is actually shown, it’s thought provoking and entertaining.

Content might not be surprising to a Boing Boing reading crowd, or anyone who has paid attention to the media monopoly. But this is well done, engaging, and human, an excellent documentary on the MPAA’s secret rating board. A subject that would be quirky and odd if it wasn’t so problematic.

Make sure to watch the deleted scenes on the DVD, I think they cut some of the best material from the movie.