A Serbian film (Srpski film) Review


Movie: A Serbian film (Srpski film)
By: Maniac E
Date: April 30, 2011

A journey into a dark world

A Serbian Film is… shocking. This is a understatement . One of the most talked about films of the year, A Serbian Film comes to us riding an international wave of notoriety that has seen it overtly praised by some, the Montreal Gazette called it “A tortured film from a tortured collective psyche… a near-perfect portrait of torment.” – 4 Stars, and yet utterly condemned by others. The movie sets up a journey into a dark world of a sidelined Serbian porn actor which leads to the most extreme corners of a movie brain.

Milo is the star of the movie an old porn star that is, who has been out of the porn industry for a while, he has founded a family and is settling down. He gets a sudden visit a man tells him about this mysterious porn flick that will be made. A film without a script he just has to do what is being told to him by an earpiece. He signs the contract without thinking and the following day he gets picked up. Yet nothing could prepare me for this raunchy and extreme exploitation film that dwells somewhere between horror and pornography: two elements cleverly mixes, like picking a great movie like Trainspotting and it would be completely raped by a hardcore porn movie. Like Irreversible and Martyrs had an unknown mother. That’s A Serbian Film in movie terms.

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Milo throws himself into a world he thinks he knows inside out, where for years he was the boss. Once he goes into the sick imagination of the filmmaker Vukmir, he knows that it isn’t a normal porn movie and in the end is very wrong. The movie really builds up well, you almost forget that this is a story. Milo falls deeper and deeper into the downward spiral he lets himself be used for rape, pedophilia and necrophilia. The film has a very effective build up - you almost forget that this is a story, a story that is quite strong - into a downward spiral in which Milos submits to rape, pedophilia and necrophilia. Read those three words again and you will understand, this is not intended for the average filmmaker. Rape we had in Irreversible. In Gummo we saw some nasty acts with kids, like Salo. But those three subjects in one movie is for the most people too much. As I said before this isn’t a movie you want check out if you can’t handle it.

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Serbia is not a happy country. It has for years lived under oppression and war, rape was one of the things that Serbs had to deal with. It’s a bad history and it seems that filmmaker Srdjan Spasojević put all his anger and projected it on the big screen. As movie A Serbian Film works, mostly under the heading “if you do not want to listen you have to feel it”. The scenes feel raw, sickening and even three times traumatic. And me as seasoned horror/slasher watcher: I hardly ever tell friends what takes place in the movie. They have to find out their selves.

The style of the movie can be highly appreciated, it looks quite professional and not blurred like a lot of other movies. The acting is so strong, which just adds even more realism to the whole movie. The movie works towards the ending, this ending fits the whole movie completely. Also the mysterious atmosphere helps surrounding every part of the movie and makes every scene creepier than before. I even got a kind of Mulholland Drive feeling with it, up to half of the film (when the atrocities are still limited to a few bare cocks and a cumshot in the face ...) A Serbian film is even pretty cool.

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Keep in mind A Serbian Film isn’t for everyone. The torture, the porn, the rape, the sex, the horror, the necrophilia, the pedophilia. These are all part of this movie and make no mistake you can’t go around them! Which is a shame, because buried beneath all the sordid and explicit content is an astounding tragic tale of a man doing whatever it takes to keep his family together. The relationship between Milo, his wife, and his son is a complex and fantastic one, endearing and touching, which adds to the disturbing pathos of the finale. The film is also an incredible commentary on the narcissism of the bourgeoisie artiste, the nature of sexuality, the role of violence in sexuality, the very definition of pornography. It’s what makes A Serbian Film more than just torture porn, even though at it’s very essence, the film is about a pornographer who brutally tortures his subjects. If you’re willing to root through the vile imagery associated with that, there’s a powerful and twisted film buried deep within.

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A Serbian Film is not recommended, I am tossing between two opinions. The violence, the sex… it is a nasty combo, it’s like you’re watching a snuff movie. How raw and hard do you want a movie to be? This is only for the movie viewers that have enough guts and bad taste to watch something like this. The story and the style of the movie is what made it watchable for me. Some parts of the movie are just unacceptable. Forget Irreversible, Gummo, Salo, and I dare to say even Martyrs. A Serbian Film crossed the limit for how far a movie should go.


3.5/5




BLURAY REVIEW

Image quality

With the RED cinematography its crystal clear everything is nicely detailed.


Sound

Sound is great especially the soundtrack, voices are clean so nothing of the dialogue goes to waste. A solid Dolby HD5.1 track can be found on the blu-ray disc


Extras

There is an interview with the director only.


Overall

Zeno Pictures came out with one of the best versions of the film. The 104minute version is uncut and unedited unlike the UK version. The picture and sound department get everything done the way it should be. Just a downside on this are the extras there isn't alot go with.


Zeno Pictures

Movie

A Serbian film (Srpski film)

Title

A Serbian film (Srpski film)

Director

Srdjan Spasojevic

Country

Serbia

Year

2010

Cast

Srdjan Todorovic, Sergej Trifunovic, Jelena Gavrilovic, Katarina Zutic