‘50 Shades’ gets 12 rating in France

PARIS - French children as young as 12 can head to see the highly anticipated erotic drama “Fifty Shades of Grey’’ on its release Wednesday, after the country’s film board decided against giving it an adult certificate.

France’s classification president, Jean-Francois Mary, deemed that the movie, starring Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson, “isn’t a film that ... can shock a lot of people.’’

Mary considers the film, that contains scenes of nudity and sadomasochism between an entrepreneur and a virginal student, “a romance, you could even say schmaltzy.’’

The film - based on the best-selling E.L. James novel - has been rated R in the United States for its “graphic nudity’’ and “unusual behavior.’’

Britain granted it an 18 certificate and the film is banned on screens in Malaysia where it was deemed “too sadistic.’’

AP