BRITONS won’t tolerate swearing; Spaniards can’t stand sex: but anything goes in France, as long as it’s French.

Robin Duval, the outgoing director of the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC), says that is why a European Commission plan to harmonise film ratings would never work.

“Harmonisation is an impractical chimera,” he said. “The British are almost alone in Europe in their sensitivity to bad language. The French place a much higher premium on the cultural value of films than other nations when they classify. The Spanish tend to take a harder line than anyone on sexual immorality and the Scandinavians are most sensitive on violence and least on sex.”

Germans are similar to Britons but regard swearing as amusing rather than offensive and tend to take a more suspicious view of violence when it is meted out by American imperialist aggressors.

The Commission’s report, which argued that the variety of national film censors was confusing and expensive, suggested that Britain is the second most censorious country in Europe after Ireland.

Britons take a stronger stance than most countries against sex, violence, swearing and drug use. Use of Anglo-Saxon oaths is especially frowned on in Englishspeaking countries, causing anomalies with films such as Billy Elliot, which contained no sex, drugs or violence but an estimated 50 swearwords.

In Britain it was rated 15, but in France and Spain it received the equivalent of a universal certificate. America demanded cuts to allow it to be rated PG-13, in which parents are cautioned not to let younger children watch. Germany and Sweden allowed children of seven into screenings.

France has the most relaxed attitude to film censorship, especially over sex. The most extreme example is American Beauty, rated 18 in Britain but given a universal certificate in France. The Exorcist, Gangs of New York, Hannibal, Pulp Fiction and Secretary were all given an 18 certificate in Britain but a 12 in France.

Although Spain shares France’s liberal attitude to censorship, it takes exception to films in which sex takes place outside a loving relationship.

Sue Clarke, a BBFC spokeswoman, said that Spanish censors were strongly influenced by Roman Catholic morality. “They take promiscuity very seriously,” she said. “We don’t have a problem with promiscuity for our higher-rated films. In Monster’s Ball there is a very steamy sex scene between Halle Berry and Billy Bob Thornton, but it is very obvious they both wanted the sex so we gave it a 15 certificate. In Spain it was certificated 18 because the characters are not married.”

Scandinavian countries are very liberal on sex and drug use, but take a hard line on violence. The first The Lord of the Rings film, which was passed at PG in Britain because violence was inflicted on fantasy beasts rather than human beings, was restricted to 11 and over in Sweden and Norway. Despite Britain’s relatively high tolerance for violence, it can occasionally be outstripped by Italy. The Passion of the Christ, Mel Gibson’s film in which James Caviezel is whipped for 25 minutes, was rated 18 in Britain but awarded a universal certificate in Italy.

Countries will often be more generous to home-made films in the hope of generating a stronger film industry. For Good Bye Lenin!, a German production, children over the age of 6 were allowed to see it in Germany despite a scene in a sex shop that earned it a 15 certificate in Britain.

Germans are also more likely to object to films that show American soldiers imposing their will in foreign countries. Germany was unique in giving an 18 certificate to Behind Enemy Lines, in which Owen Wilson is a navy navigator shot down in Bosnia.

However, it is Britain which is hardest in Europe on drugs. Ms Clarke said that BBFC surveys showed consistent fear that drug use in films could corrupt children.

“We were surprised by the strength of feeling,” she said. “Our ongoing consultation suggests that there is no relaxation in attitudes. But if you spoke to Swedes and asked if they were concerened about drugs they would say ‘no’.”

The British film Saving Grace, starring Brenda Blethyn as a gardener who grows cannabis, was rated 15 here while in Sweden children of 7 were allowed to watch.

Mr Duval said that if a harmonised certification system were enforced, we would have to accept more restrictive standards. The European Commission report found that neither the public nor the film industry wanted a European-wide system.

If such a system were to gain public support, Britain is the most likely model. The BBFC is the only cinema and video regulatory body that is neither owned by the film industry nor by a national government.

But, Mr Duval added: “This is not a serious prospect.”

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