A Serbian Film (18)

I agree with Tim - this review basically reduces the film to a number of sexually-violent set-pieces and will just give more fuel to the people who are railing against it without having actually seen it. It makes it appear that the film is just about the violence and little more which is a pretty bad foundation to form a review on.

Place Hostel side by side with A Serbian Film. Hostel, while not as graphic as A Serbian Film is harder to defend because it's only purpose is entertainment. It revels in sadism for no other reason than to titilate and shock. I didn't get that impression from A Serbian Film when I watched it. It's not an easy film to defend or watch more than once but some films aren't meant to be. I'd defend the movie in the same way I'd stand up for Irreversable or Fat Girl, as a film that pushes taboos for a good purpose. The kind of violence seen in the film is out there in underground horror movies that are so nihilistic and twisted that it makes you weep for the people who made them. A Serbian Film isn't in the same place at all.

Sam, that argument could be used to justify absolutely anything. All a so-called 'art' film like this is doing is raising the bar of what's acceptable. The mainstream will follow. Mark my words, in a few years time you'll see Tom Cruise cutting some girl's head off during sex.

We live in a world where mainstream torture franchaises inspire theme park rides. If pointless sadism and nihilism are the order of the day in the big studios output, a film that makes the audience question it's attitudes to screen violence needs to out do films that make light such horrors in order to shake certain sections of the audience out of their complacency.

Yes, I saw both the cut and the uncut versions of A Serbian Film. It might be argued that the BBFC should have considered banning the film outright rather than filleting it in such a serious, conscientious and thoughtful manner. However, most of the 49 cuts, of which I have seen a detailed list, were made in order to comply with the law against the portrayal of children in a sexualised or abusive context. They were therefore unavoidable, whatever their alleged effect on the film's artistic integrity. It is also absurd to suggest the BBFC's cuts 'reduce' the content of the film to exploitation. In their original, uncut form these scenes are far more exploitative.  While I accept that the director and his scriptwriter believe A Serbian Film to be a serious, confrontational satire, I believe that the film lost control of both the excessively graphic material and its own central argument. The effect of the film is therefore to punish the audience - rather than the Serbian authorities allegedly responsible for 'the fascism of political correctness'. As if we, the viewers, are not simply complicit in this state of affairs, but ultimately responsible for it. This is both inconsistent and insulting, suggesting that we lack the moral intelligence to see through what he regards as the obscenity of 'compassion porn' or 'the pornography of the victim'. Unless someone more knowing is applying a metaphorical electrical shock to our sensitive parts. The difference between Piranha 3D and A Serbian Film is that the former knows that it is irredeemable trash, whereas the latter demands to be taken seriously as Art. But with great art comes great responsibility, and A Serbian Film's irresponsible use of extreme imagery undermines its own sincerely made arguments.

This is by far the best film of 2010. It's not only intelligent, profoundly moving and ultimately one of the most visually stunning as well. The cut version does not follow the directors vision, it alters the majority of the content and reduces it to exploitation. The BBFC have destroyed this film and you have ever right to not support this version. Nigel may I ask have you see it uncut to make such a statement? It's not for everyone and never was meant too. Too many reviews have taken the film out of context and just highlight the more stronger content it has. You must realise that your comments about this just as what the bbfc have done raises the notorioity of it. You should restrain plot spoilers as it takes the film out of context and attracts a different audience entirely. This is an important film, my concern is your support for worthless trash like Piranha 3D and you condemn important horror cinema.