Interview: Adam Rehmeier Speaks Out on the BBFC’s Ban of ‘The Bunny Game’

Posted on November 19, 2011 by Deaditor 13 Comments

Interview by Aled Ll Jones of MovieDromeDVD.com

Editor’s Introduction: Since we first watched The Bunny Game earlier this year in February we’ve become fairly good friends with the film’s director, Adam Rehmeier. We’re big supporters of his independently made artistic vision and in the past have taken the opportunity to speak at length with both Adam and Rodleen on the film’s subject matter. You can read that lengthy interview here, as well as tap into our official review here.

Following the recent ban of The Bunny Game in the UK by the BBFC I’ve conversed with Adam about this decision. Frustration is the best way to summarize everyone’s feeling (both his and ours) regarding this choice. Aled Ll Jones, who has been doing a phenomenal job speaking to many directors in the UK was afforded a few minutes with Adam “on the record” to get his reaction to the ban and discuss the film further.

Currently The Bunny Game’s UK distributor, Trinity X, is considering its next move in attempting to get the ban overturn.

BAH: Could you explain where the origins of The Bunny Game came from, where did you get the idea from?

Adam: The Bunny Game is a monster that manifested itself spontaneously through Rodleen Getsic and myself after many years of collaboration in art, music, and photography. A catalyst of the film was also Rodleen’s real life abduction years prior, though the film is not a re-telling of her experience. Her abduction was an emotional reference point for her character “Bunny” in the film. We spent several years shooting thousands of photos together, and eventually Bunny’s characteristics began to emerge: the bleached hair, the wardrobe, the backpack that held all of her worldly possessions. It was a slow process, nothing was rushed. Even now, after the film has been completed for some time, we are patient as its tentacles slither around searching for proper screening opportunities and appropriate distribution, not wanting it to be easily chalked up as torture porn or a rape film as the BBFC would like you to believe. It is something quite different and unique, and conscious festival programmers in the US and Europe have recognized what the film truly is and have helped get the film before audiences.

BAH: Why did you choose to shoot in Black and White?

Adam: The decision to shoot the film monochromatic really developed during our photo sessions before we began the film. It kept everything primal. Color would possibly have been a distraction and emotionally conveyed something else to the audience. In Black & White, the action becomes the focus. It strips everything down to the basics.

BAH: Given the intense content was casting the film problematic?

Adam: The casting, like everything else in the film, manifested organically and took many years. In the first scenario, Gregg Gilmore played a character named Jonas, who drove around in a van full of puppets and mannequins, sort of a pseudo family. Rodleen’s character was to become an addition to this family, a living breathing fuck doll of sorts, as she was to be unconscious for much of the film. We were set to go to some heavy places, too much so for Gilmore, who ended up backing out of the film in 2006. With the absence of Gilmore, the original film we planned on creating truly died. Jeff Renfro’s audition was really an incident that happened to me on the set of the Polish Bros. film Northfork in 2002. Renfro was the honey wagon driver, and for reasons I’ll never truly know, he attacked me on the sixth day of production. His intensity lingered in my mind for years, so during the point in time where the film was in limbo, he crept back into my consciousness. I had stayed in touch after our incident on Northfork [we were forced to shake hands like gentlemen and became friends] so I called him to see if he was interested in being in the film. After a brief visit, Rodleen and I both knew he was the right man for the film. Jeff knew the film was going to be a challenge. He never took the easy way out. He sucked it up, channeled negativity with us and put his heart into the film. Not bad for a trucker, huh?

BAH: When people lump your film in with the likes of Saw and Hostel is that a little annoying?

Adam: Not only is it annoying, it’s disrespectful to Rodleen’s performance. In The Bunny Game, she went beyond what an actor typically does for the sake of art. There was absolutely nothing comfortable about this production, there were no safety nets. To see someone give so much of her soul to art is quite profound. The BBFC decision to ban the film in the UK is the perfect example of someone chalking this up as just torture and rape. They don’t see what is really going on in the film because they are probably too busy talking over it or taking notes. They don’t understand what an important and cathartic experience this was for Rodleen, how she was able to purge the lingering trauma of her own abduction years prior through this artistic statement. They don’t notice the vacancy in her gaze and realize she has fasted for forty days prior to the shoot to morph her physiology into the desperate creature you see on the screen. They simply chalk it up as snuff.

BAH: What’s the general reaction you’ve had to the film around the festival circuit?

Adam: We’ve had a tremendous response to the film on the festival circuit, but it has been a challenging film to program. Some programmers have been afraid to put it in their line-ups for fear of repercussions from sponsors, but others champion it and bring a nice audience to witness it. We have quite a few more screenings in Europe than the US as of now. There seems to be a greater appreciation for it abroad. We just played to a full house at Lausanne Underground, and there are screenings in Italy and Belgium as well. Programmers that support the film appreciate that it is grounded in reality and doesn’t glorify violence.

BAH: Can you tell me your reaction to the BBFC decision to ban your film outright?

Adam: I think the BBFC decision to ban the film is quite harsh. Of course, they will let remakes of films like I Spit on Your Grave and Last House on the Left pass uncut. Hollywood remakes, nonetheless, that capitalize on the notoriety of rape and revenge of the original films and do absolutely nothing to further the genre. The rape scenes in these films are beyond graphic, and the thought of people sitting around watching this shit on a playback monitor while drinking Starbucks and eating craft service is possibly even more disturbing. I guess unremitting rape and callous behavior is okay with the BBFC as long as the victim exacts revenge on the tormentor, which, in reality, is never the case. The Bunny Game is a journey through several days in the life of a prostitute and is grounded in reality. It is grim and, as with most abductions, the ending is far from happy. The BBFC seems to think that we are eroticising the torture in the film, encouraging the viewer to join in on the abductor’s pleasure. Did they even watch the film? Out of all the screenings we have had in the past year, not a single person has ever expressed that same thought. It is so far from left field, I was certain they were joking when I read it.

BAH: Will this current ban change anything about your directorial and content choices for the future?

Adam: Of course not. I don’t worry about approval when I make a film, especially when it is a personal and intimate story like The Bunny Game. As a director, I make films that interest and challenge me. Not every film I make is going to be similar to The Bunny Game. In fact, my next film, JONAS, is very squeaky clean and PG.

BAH: If somebody asked you to recommend one film to anyone right now what would it be and why? (This isn’t the usual what’s the best film ever made question)

Adam: Everyone needs to see the new Polish Bros. film For Lovers Only. It is beautiful, pure Cinema; my favorite film of the year. Also, I just caught Beyond the Black Rainbow the other night in Lausanne and I was really blown away with it, as well. It’s a wonderful, brooding, Sci-Fi journey.