Not recommended under 13, PG to 15 (Themes; Violence; Disturbing scenes)
This topic contains:
Children under 13 | Not recommended due to themes, violence and disturbing scenes |
Children 13-14 | Parental guidance recommended due to themes, violence and disturbing scenes |
Children 15 and over | OK for this age group |
This section contains details about the movie, including its classification by the Australian Government Classification Board and the associated consumer advice lines. Other classification advice (OC) is provided where the Australian film classification is not available.
Name of movie: | Water for Elephants |
Classification: | M |
Consumer advice lines: | Mature themes and violence |
Length: | 120 minutes |
This review of the movie contains the following information:
Water for Elephants is set in the depression era of the 1930’s. Jacob Jankowski (Robert Pattinson) is on the point of graduating as a veterinarian when his parents are killed in a car accident and he finds himself homeless. After aimlessly jumping on a passing train, Jacob enters the world of a travelling circus, complete with misfits, drifters and oddballs struggling to survive in the hard economic times.
August (Christopher Waltz), the owner of the circus, only allows Jacob to stay because he believes that he is a vet and can look after the circus animals. August is a flamboyant but cruel and controlling man married to the beautiful Marlene (Reece Witherspoon), star of the equestrian act.
Jacob is a compassionate and humane person who looks after the animals with great care and manages to tame Rosie the elephant, a seemingly impossible task. He finds himself in trouble when he and Marlene fall in love.
Children and adolescents may react adversely at different ages to themes of crime, suicide, drug and alcohol dependence, death, serious illness, family breakdown, death or separation from a parent, animal distress or cruelty to animals, children as victims, natural disasters and racism. Occasionally reviews may also signal themes that some parents may simply wish to know about.
Cruelty to animals; alcohol abuse; abusive relationships
Research shows that children are at risk of learning that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution when violence is glamourised, performed by an attractive hero, successful, has few real life consequences, is set in a comic context and / or is mostly perpetrated by male characters with female victims, or by one race against another.
Repeated exposure to violent content can reinforce the message that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution. Repeated exposure also increases the risks that children will become desensitised to the use of violence in real life or develop an exaggerated view about the prevalence and likelihood of violence in their own world.
There is some violence in this movie including:
Children under five are most likely to be frightened by scary visual images, such as monsters, physical transformations.
In addition to the above mentioned violent scenes, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children aged under five, including the following:
Children aged five to eight will also be frightened by scary visual images and will also be disturbed by depictions of the death of a parent, a child abandoned or separated from parents, children or animals being hurt or threatened and / or natural disasters.
Children in this age group are also likely to be disturbed by some of the above mentioned scenes
Children aged eight to thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic threats and dangers, violence or threat of violence and / or stories in which children are hurt or threatened.
Children in this age group may also be disturbed by some of the above mentioned scenes
Children over the age of thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic physical harm or threats, molestation or sexual assault and / or threats from aliens or the occult.
Younger children in this age group may also be disturbed by some of the above mentioned scenes
None of concern
There are some sexual references in this movie, including:
There is some nudity and sexual activity in this movie, including:
There is some use of substances in this movie, including:
There is some coarse language in this movie, including:
Water for Elephants is a romantic drama that captures an era of very different lives and standards. The themes and harsh realities depicted make the film more suitable for adults and older adolescents.
The main messages from this movie are that:
Parents may also wish to discuss the real life consequences of
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Content is age appropriate for children this age
Some content may not be appropriate for children this age. Parental guidance recommended
Content is not age appropriate for children this age
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