Vancouver native Molly Parker's upcoming film "The Centre Of The World" is poised to land in the centre of a controversy in the U.S. over the film's racy content.

The Hollywood Reporter says the film's producer, Artisan Entertainment, has announced it will issue the film unrated in the U.S., after the Motion Picture Association Of America slapped the risque film with a restrictive NC-17 rating this week.

Directed by Wayne Wang from a story by Paul Auster (the same team responsible for the experimental films "Smoke" and "Blue In The Face"), "The Centre Of The World" casts Parker ("Wonderland," "Sunshine," "Twitch City") as a stripper who is lured to Las Vegas by a high-tech tycoon, played by Peter Sarsgaard ("Desert Blue," "Dead Man Walking"). The film was shot on digital video.

The NC-17 was designed by the MPAA, which handles movie ratings in the U.S., to distinguish serious artistic material deemed suitable exclusively for adult audiences from pornography. But the NC-17 rating has become an albatross for many movies that have received the designation, limiting advertising and restricting which theatres the movies can play in.

Several theatre chains have simply recut their films to achieve the less stygmatized restricted rating. In the U.S., the made-in-Toronto film "American Psycho" was re-edited for the film's release there, although Canadian movie-goers saw the original cut.

Sending out Wang's film without a rating presumably sidesteps the entire controversy, although The Hollywood Reporter did not say what the consequence of sending it out unrated would be. Artisan recently issued the Oscar-nominated "Requiem For A Dream" unrated. The same battles with film ratings boards haven't occurred as a rule in Canada.

Meanwhile, the film's trailer can be viewed online at http://www.center-of-the-world.com.


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