Controversy-invoking films may be from almost any genre - documentaries, westerns, erotic-thrillers, dramas, horror, comedy, or animated, and more. Standards for what may be considered shocking, offensive or controversial have changed drastically over many decades.The voluntary ratings system of the Motion Picture Association of America can influence a film's public showing in a theatre -- an NC-17 rating or an unrated film may often close down a film's screening and lead to commercial failure.

The following illustrated list in the next few web pages, in unranked alphabetical order, presents a solid collection of the most controversial films in cinematic history. Entertainment Weekly's June 16, 2006 issue contained a listing of their top 25 "Most Controversial Movies of All-Time" - included here and indicated with the # numbers after the film title, in this more comprehensive list.

Note: The films that are marked with a yellow star are the films that "The Greatest Films" site has selected as the "100 Greatest Films". For the many other milestone films with sexual scenes that were especially notorious, infamous, controversial, or scandalous, see this site's special writeups on Sex in Cinema and the genre of Sexual/Erotic Films.

The Most Controversial Films of All-Time
(alphabetically by film title) - Part 2
Intro | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10

Bonnie And Clyde (1967) # 21
D. Arthur Penn

This innovative, revisionist Hollywood film redefined and romanticized the crime/gangster genre and the depiction of screen violence forever. The landmark film was ultimately a popular and commercial success, but it was first widely denounced and condemned by film reviewers for glamorizing the two Depression-era killers (Faye Dunaway as Bonnie Parker and Warren Beatty as Clyde Barrow), and only had mediocre box-office results.

In the autumn of 1967, it opened and closed quite quickly - enough time for it to be indignantly criticized for its shocking violence, graphic bullet-ridden finale (with its slow-motion ballet of death) and for its blending of humorous farce with brutal killings. Then, after a period of reassessment, there were glowing reviews, critical acclaim, a Newsweek cover story, and the film's re-release - and it was nominated for ten Academy Awards. The film was also remarkable and controversial for its honest depiction of the unique relationship between an impotent Clyde and the sexually-aggressive Bonnie.

Boxing Helena (1993)
D. Jennifer Chambers Lynch

25 year-old writer/director Jennifer Chambers Lynch's (David Lynch's daughter) directorial debut film was an erotic, R-rated (originally NC-17), provocative and disturbing psychosexual work that was decried by feminists; this controversial, misogynistic film was originally contracted with Madonna and then Kim Basinger as the star, and settled by a multi-million dollar lawsuit in favor of the producer Carl Mazzocone when Basinger backed out. A Superior Court jury in Los Angeles ordered Basinger to pay $8.92 million for failing to appear in the movie, and the actress also faced additional punitive damages for walking out of the movie on the eve of its production. Basinger finally settled with the producers out of court for $3.8 million, which bankrupted her. Some accounts reported that this ruling was overturned on appeal in 1994.

Its tale was decried by critics, comparing it to Hitchcock's Psycho (1960) remade by Zalman (''Wild Orchid'') King. It followed the obsession of brilliant Atlanta surgeon Dr. Nick Cavanaugh (Julian Sands) who had a promiscuous and uncaring blonde-haired mother named Marion (Meg Register) who simultaneous teased, ignored and tormented him as a young boy. He developed problems with premature ejaculation before he became entranced by his vivacious, unattainable, bitchy and libertine neighbor Helena (Sherilyn Fenn). Cavanaugh was able to experience a brief one-night affair with her in the past, but couldn't fathom being without his lustful desires for her after peeping at her through her window during a sensual evening tryst with her sleazy macho boyfriend Ray O'Malley (Bill Paxton). He took advantage of her when there was a terrible hit-run vehicular accident outside his palatial house following a party (in which she sensuously twirled around in slow-motion in his outdoor fountain while stripped down to her lingerie) - he performed surgery and made her a 'Venus de Milo' amputee (metaphorically and physically) by first removing her damaged legs (and then her arms to imprison her). To cover up his atrocious entrapment, he quit his hospital job, cut off all contact with the outside world, and attended to his imprisoned possession; although still captive and dependent, she would continue to scorn and emasculate him with denouncements of his manhood, but eventually taught him (with limbs in a dream sequence) how a woman should be loved.

However, the entire sequence of his imprisonment of his captive, dismembered quadruple amputee female companion was revealed to be a dream that was imagined during the six hours of Helena's surgery -- Nick suddenly awoke in the hospital's waiting room; in flashback, Nick was shown rushing Helena to the hospital with a medical response team and waiting for her recovery by her bedside; his final voice-over was: "I am still haunted by my love, by my dreams."

To illustrate the conflicting views on the film, it won the Razzie Award for Worst Director, and also was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize (for Dramatic Film) by the Sundance Film Festival.

Brokeback Mountain (2005)
D. Ang Lee

Almost a quarter of a century after the similarly-themed Making Love (1982), this Best Picture-nominated melodrama appeared with its story about two young cowboys who had an unexpected tryst while shepherding in 1963. It told how their ill-fated love affected their married lives in the following three decades. This was the first mainstream gay/bi-sexual romance film, heavily-promoted by the media, to receive multiple awards and critical/public acclaim, with eight Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture (and ultimately three Oscars) from major A-list film-maker and Best Director-winning Ang Lee. The much talked-about film quickly became the most honored movie in cinematic history - it had more Best Picture and Director wins from various film organizations than previous Oscar winners Schindler's List (1993) and Titanic (1997) combined. It was also the critical darling of the media and the expected favorite to win, although Crash surprisingly took the top honor.

However, some conservative Catholic organizations cited the film as "morally offensive" for its open portrayal of a homosexual relationship, and others criticized the film as sexually propagandistic. Conservative Christian fundamentalist groups heavily cited the film as glorifying homosexuality and for pushing a sexual agenda. However, those who were critical of the film were labeled "homophobic". Although widely hailed as a "breakthrough" film for gay cinema, neither of the film's two lead actors, nor its director, nor its screenwriters were gay, and the film was originally advertised in trailers without specifically referring to the film's 'gay' themes or scenes.

This independent arthouse film from narcissistic and vain producer/director/actor/writer Vincent Gallo was essentially a cross-country road-trip movie, about unshaven, long-haired motorcyclist racer Bud Clay (Vincent Gallo) - a tortured, empty-hearted loner who often idealized and thought about his former and estranged girlfriend Daisy (Chloe Sevigny, Gallo's real-life ex-girlfriend). In a naturalistic style of story-telling, the flawed film followed Clay's westward trip in his black van to Los Angeles, California after he had lost an East Coast (New Hampshire) race. During his trip, he met fleetingly with three women and connected only briefly with each of them before leaving - all were named after flowers: teenage New Hampshire gas-station cashier Violet (Anna Vareschi), middle-aged Lilly (Cheryl Tiegs) at a truck stop, and young Las Vegas street hooker Rose (Elizabeth Blake). Reportedly at one time, Winona Ryder and Kirsten Dunst were to be in the film, but presumably dropped due to the film's final scene.

When the self-absorbed film was first screened for the press at the Cannes Film Festival in 2003, critic Roger Ebert called it "the worst film ever shown at Cannes," prompting a prolonged feud of words between Gallo and Ebert. Other critics and audiences derided and scorned the film and its filmmaker. The feud with Ebert ended when the film was re-cut (approximately 26 minutes of the two hour film were excised) and re-released, and Ebert gave the film his 'thumbs-up' endorsement. Further controversy arose over large billboards conspicuously placed in Los Angeles, heralding the infamous fellatio scene.

This film further broke down the division between pornography and erotica. In the film's most notorious, explicit and controversial scene of unsimulated fellatio at the finale, Bud and Daisy were in a starkly-white hotel room (soon-to-be-revealed as a fantasy masturbatory sequence) - both lonely and needy individuals who were attempting to connect and speak to each other. Twice, she went to the bathroom to smoke crack cocaine. Soon, the couple began kissing as he took her head/face forcefully with his two hands on her cheeks and hungrily kissed her. She sat on the bed as he stood before her, unzipped his pants fly, and then took his male member into her mouth to begin the infamous 'blow-job' scene - as he held himself. As she pleasured him in her mouth, they still engaged in a conversation about their love for each other. When he was finished (although it was unclear whether he ejaculated or not?), he stuffed himself back into his pants.

They then talked about the last encounter of their tragic relationship, when Bud reacted jealously to Daisy's past indiscretion at a party, where she smoked dope and acted provocatively. The thought-provoking film ended with a shocking, melodramatic plot twist to explain Bud's complex personality and downer mood throughout the film regarding Daisy as his lost love - the only woman he ever loved. The film's ending gave greater meaning to everything that came before, including the sex scene. It was revealed that Daisy was raped at the party when she passed out after getting high (which Bud witnessed passively) - and she in fact died as a result of the incident (choking to death on her own vomit). Bud's intense guilt about abandoning her and his continuing crisis of masculine insecurity were informed by the appearance of the deceased Daisy - as Bud masturbated alone to his memory of her.

This lavish Roman-Empire epic was written by Gore Vidal and co-financed by adult-oriented Penthouse magazine's producer Bob Guccione, though the script underwent several re-writes after the director and cast found Gore Vidal's interpretation unsatisfactory (Vidal later disowned it). It advertised itself as "the most controversial film of the 20th century" - and was the most expensive pornographic film ever made.

This was Hollywood's first big-budget ($15 million that later ballooned to $22 million), bizarre blockbuster sexploitation epic of 'classy' hardcore sex and gory violence - and it became both a critical and commercial disaster after a very limited theatrical release (due to fear of prosecution for obscenity). The objectionable film was originally intended to be high-art, with major stars (Malcolm McDowell as the infamous Roman emperor, John Gielgud, Helen Mirren, Peter O'Toole), but was described as a "moral holocaust" by Variety and reviewers considered it worthless fantasy trash.

The fim was notorious for its graphic and steamy sex scenes (including a large-scale orgy, masturbation, explicit sex acts, sexual depravity and decadence including a lesbian one between two Penthouse Pets Lori Wagner and Marjorie Thoreson as Anneka Di Lorenzo that was filmed later and inserted for prurient interest). Originally self-rated as X and shown as unrated in a 156-minute version, it was then severely edited for an R-rating down to about 105 minutes.

Cannibal Holocaust (1985) # 20
D. Ruggero Deodato

This extremely graphic, hotly-debated cult classic Italian film - the uncredited inspirational precursor of the faux-documentary The Blair Witch Project - was filled with violent, grisly, and disturbing images. The exploitation film was purportedly the story of a film crew, led by Alan Yates (Gabriel York), that disappeared while making a documentary (a feature entitled "The Green Inferno" about the last surviving tribes that still practiced cannibalism) in the wilds of South America's Amazon area. Masterful cinematic tricks and special effects created an unnerving view of the fate of the team - found in undeveloped film cans by a search and rescue team.

Grisly, realistic-looking scenes included a castration/dismemberment, some beatings with large hammers, guts-eating, a forced abortion, numerous animal slaughterings (including a horrible turtle murder), gang-rape and impalement of a woman on a pole.

For his work on the film, the director was arrested by Italian authorities on suspicion of murder charges and faced life in prison, following its 1980 Milan premiere. He endured a trial when Italian authorities were unconvinced that the footage was indeed staged. Deodato lost the original trial, and all prints were to be destroyed, but he managed to have the ruling overturned in the early '80s when the actors finally appeared on TV to prove otherwise. Some five years passed before the film saw release in Deodato’s home country. This movie was banned for twenty years in certain countries, including the UK.

Carnal Knowledge (1971)
D. Mike Nichols

The prurient title of this raw, taboo-breaking Mike Nichols film (with a script by satirist and cartoonist Jules Feiffer), meaning 'sexual intercourse', brought millions of patrons into the theatres for its character-based tale of the exploits of two Amherst college roommates: shy and naive Sandy (singer Art Garfunkel) and narcissistic womanizer Jonathan (Jack Nicholson), and their dysfunctional, misogynistic sexual attitudes and 'machismo' relationships (and breakups) with women over a 20-year period (from the late-1940s to the late 60s). Their female counterparts included Candice Bergen (as Sandy's respectable college sweetheart and wife Susan), Ann-Margret (as Jonathan's voluptuous mistress and suicidal wife Bobbie), Carol Kane (as Sandy's 17 year-old hippie chick girlfriend Jennifer in the late 60s), and Rita Moreno (as Louise - appearing in the final scene as a prostitute kneeling between impotent Jonathan's legs while pleasuring him and encouraging him to rise up and be manly).

A film print was seized by Albany, Georgia officials in 1972, claiming that it violated obscenity laws, and the manager of the film theatre was arrested (and convicted, but it was later overturned). More than two years later, it was brought before the US Supreme Court which found that the film was not obscene and "did not depict sexual conduct in a patently offensive way." Nowadays, the film would be considered tame, with its minor amount of nudity or explicit sexual activity, although its dialogue was ripe, candidly frank and open for its time (e.g., Jonathan contemptuously termed women 'female ballbusters').

Citizen Kane (1941)
D. Orson Welles

This widely-acclaimed film from debut film director/actor Orson Welles (24 years old) is usually regarded as the greatest film ever made. The film, budgeted at $800,000, received unanimous critical praise even at the time of its release, although it was not a commercial success (partly due to its limited distribution and delayed release by RKO due to pressure exerted by famous publisher W.R. Hearst).

The film engendered controversy (and efforts at suppression in early 1941 through intimidation, blackmail, newspaper smears, discrediting and FBI investigations) before it premiered in New York City on May 1, 1941, because it appeared to fictionalize and caricaturize certain events and individuals in the life of William Randolph Hearst - a powerful newspaper magnate and publisher. The film was accused of drawing remarkable, unflattering, and uncomplimentary parallels (especially in regards to the Susan Alexander Kane character) to real-life. The notorious battle was detailed in Thomas Lennon's and Michael Epstein's Oscar-nominated documentary The Battle Over Citizen Kane (1996), and it was retold in HBO's cable-TV film RKO 281 (1999) (the film's title referred to the project numbering for the film by the studio, before the film was formally titled).

The gossip columnist Louella Parsons persuaded her newspaper boss Hearst that he was being slandered by RKO and Orson Welles' film when it was first previewed, so the Hearst-owned newspapers (and other media outlets) pressured theatres to boycott the film and also threatened libel lawsuits. Hearst also ordered his publications to completely ignore the film, and not accept advertising for other RKO projects.