New Dutch rating for Harry Potter movie

25 May 2004

AMSTERDAM — The Dutch screen advisory council NICAM has rated the new Harry Potter movie as suitable for children aged nine and above. The previous two Harry Potter instalments were rated 6 and above.

NICAM said it had decided to apply the experimental rating to Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban in light of experiences of the two previous Harry Potter films and other movies.

“It appears from these that the public and the film industry is looking for more nuance in regards to age advisories,” NICAM spokesman Paul Verstraeten said in a statement.

“NICAM received complaints from parents that the 6 rating for the last Harry Potter movie was too low, but at the same time a rating of 12 would set the threshold too high.”

NICAM’s scientific advisors also feel the gap between the 6 and 12 rating is in some cases too big. “Around the age of nine, children can better differentiate between fiction and reality, so they are less influenced by frightening images,” Verstraeten said.

The 9 rating is a one-off experiment. It could become a standard rating if the public and experts react positively to it.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban — described by critics as scarier than the earlier movies — has been rated “Parental Guidance” in the UK and US.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban will be released in the Netherlands on 3 June.

Movies in the Netherlands are given a kijkwijzer (viewing advisory) voluntary rating of either Alle Leeftijden (all ages), 6, 12, or 16.

Kijkwijzer pictograms also warn the viewer whether the film contains violence, sex, drug use, frightening images, discrimination or strong language.

Subject: Dutch news + Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban