Dublin, Nov. 25 -- The movie Showgirls has been banned by the Irish film censor, Irish newspapers reported Saturday. Showgirls, which deals with women working as strippers in Las Vegas clubs, is the first film to be banned in the Irish Republic since Oliver Stone's Natural Born Killers was rejected last year.
Ireland's film censor, Sheamus Smith, did not give any explanation as to why Showgirls was rejected, but it is believed that he objected to a rape scene in the sexually explicit movie. Showgirls features actor Kyle McLachlan, star of Twin Peaks and Blue Velvet and actresses Elizabeth Berkeley and Gina Gershon. It is the latest collaboration between the Dutch director, Paul Verhoeven, and American screenwriter Joe Eszterhas, who previously worked together on the controversial Basic Instinct. Showgirls local distributors, Abbey Films, intend to take the censor's decision to the Irish Film Appeals Board. It was released in the United States with an NC-17 rating and has been passed with an 18 certificate in Britain.
