A Serbian Film (18)

This film is challenging, unrelenting, disgusting, nauseating, shocking and undialuted. It is a film with a genuine message that has been, unfortunately, lost amongst the controversy and whinnying. I will avoid the "it's immoral" debate as best I can but I must point out that though the subject matter may be awful, violent or even sick that does not make the film or it's message a write off. The themes of ASF have been used in films many many times before now, what changes their reaction is the imagery used to portray that theme and although A Serbian Film is darker, dirtier and leaves you feeling ashamed it does not actually show anything more than nerve shredding implication. What we also seem to be forgetting is that not one of us that has seen ASF went into it unaware of what it was going to be about. ASF has become nutorious, sparking debate and controversy all over the place and if you knew well enough to find it then you knew well enough what you were letting yourself in for. Hollywood movies have set up the general movie audience to feel nothing when it comes to shocking subject matter by often spoon feeding the issue to the audience with a pinch...or a bucket load of sugar, in the belief that we're all sensitive little lambs who cannot face the honesty. The truth of it all is that this kind of abuse does happen, not from time to time, it happens often. And it doesn't take place somewhere nice, surrounded by mentally stable and compassionate human adults, nor is it a kind or gentle act. A Serbian Film is honest with it's audience, it doesn't patronise you or dialute it's message. However, after defending it all on that level I am only rating it a 3/5. It is an important film with multiple, powerful messages and yet it failed to entertain me as much as I would have liked or expected from such a film and I cannot say I appreciate the aftertaste.

I loved the film because it made me feel repulsed, shocked and guilty for watching it which are great sensations for me. I look forward to seeing the film which out does it. Let's be real for a second, films like this which purport to be some kind of allegory, study in audience complicity or protest (Salo, Cannibal Holocaust, Man Bites Dog, Funny Games, etc) are just tools to gain notoriety. The fact is, as a viewer you either revel in the feeling of being repulsed or you don't, and if you do, then anything goes, which is what is great about A Serbian Film. Filmmakers who use political or socal themes as excuses to portray the most disgusting and offensive images possible are just taking censors and critics for a ride. For someone who loves the sickest, most perverse films out there, this one really delivers.

art? lmao! my backside! this isn't film making, it's money making!!! the director knew that by putting as many disgusting, shocking, disturbing and downright immoral things in the film that as word got around ppl would want to check it out to see if it really is as bad as ppl say. it's like a car crash, human beings (no matter how appalled will ALWAYS look even if they really don't want to! curiosity is in our nature! he knew this a capitalised on it bigtime, for his own greed!!! political statement? also b.s does everyone in serbia (including newborn babies) get raped? i hardly think so! this is just a money making excercise by a greedy, scum sucking, barrel scraping and frankly crap director!

A Serbian Film is a hideously nasty piece of work which the film makers have tried to justify by putting it into some kind of attack of western values infiltrating their country. This message isn't new but films such as Goodbye Lenin and The Death of Mr Lazarescu use such devices as black humour and style to get their point across. A Serbian Film has no substance other than to ask the usual and by now rather boring question as to who the pornographer is by viewing the content. The problem is the director plays his hand early here - the actors wife likes being hit, the child is interested in sex, its all meant to ambiguous but why other than to hint at titilation. The films other comparitor is Passolini's Salo but there Passolini had something to say about the link between porn and power, here there is nothing to say other than to show some of the most sickening images I have seen on film. Its sad that people feel these films should not be cut, of course they should be. This a piece of the very worse kind of pornography and when its director has to spend 10 minutes justifying his own filth then you know he and his apologists are in trouble. Just a vile film, no more no less.

I read your report about the Serbian Film being the most cut film in 16 years, this is inaccurate. If you look on the BBFC's website for a movie called Scrapbook (Eric Stanze) this was submitted in 2003 and has a

not art, not good

The BBFC are there to balance the ratings in relation to the context of the films that they rate. This film is blatantly one messed up directors vision, and 'political' messages need to be put across in a way which doesnt cause controversy for controversy's sake. Let's not condemn the BBFC for trying to protect 'the masses' and allow what you are calling 'art' loving film viewers to seek out perverse torture films elsewhere. FYI, as a film studies lecturer I also enjoy art films, but do not need to endure pointless torture and flimsy storylines to do so.

I definitely feel that this film is purely a (barely disguised) sublimation of the director's/writer's attempt to create the most shocking mainstream distributed film in the world. Someone does it time and time again. I hated everything that Hostel stoodfor but I did get the black joke - you are paying to see torture whilst you are mentally tortured. Who is the torturer? Who is the sadist? Who is the masochist? However, the argument could have been made on paper more eloquently without debasing cinema audiences. It might be lost on many people but the sight of images that if viewed in a real scenario would almost inevitably induce Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder ha a detrimental effect on the psyche. You can claim that it doesn't all you like but there are things that people train for in order to be able to withstand images of suffering and those people are also offered psychological help after undergoing traumatic ordeals. You can also claim "It's just a movie" but for two reasons 1) The advent of enhanced digital animation which is rapidly becoming 'life-grade quality' and 2) the accessibility of all media material to children, creates an arena of dangerous design. It is terrible enough that children from other countries are recruited as killers in armies and forced to do terrible things but for a developed country to allow it's children to lose their innocence before it's time is barbaric and retrograde. The reason I mention Hostel is that this film doesn't even have an ironic black joke to fall back on. It's makers claim it's derivation from political turmoil. I don't remember Israel making such a film. Or palestine. Or China. Or any other country that has suffrered such ills which to be honest is every country in history. War is hell but there is something to be gleaned from expression of self. Why not make a documentary? Sure, it wouldn't be as headline-making as this film but what has this film become notorious for? The violence or the political message? A desire to be known and famous is behind all shocking image based media. Otherwise it would rely on words. Images are used for the mentally illiterate. Books are banned too but they are generally of a political or ideological subject matter. Ask yourself two questions...why was this made and why (if you did) enjoy watching it? It is human nature to be aroused by sex and violence. But arousal does not necessarily mean something is morally or ethically right. Studies have shown both male and female participants of experiments watching dreamatic rape scenes become sexually stimulated in their brains. Does this mean that films should contain rape scenes as it excites viewers? Some film makers do seem to think this. Film IS about exploration of the human mind and it IS about artistic endeavour but like any explorative journey it is fraught with dangers. To be aware of those angers and still make mistakes is normal. To not learn from those mistakes is disastrous. One star given for the fact that it is a well made film but I think the subject matter stinks.

I'm fully aware of the BBFC's cuts as i've seen both versions in a cinema (Legally). The BBFC's guidelines have to be followed i understand that, but what i do not understand, from what you and The BBFC are saying is this movie is meant to simply Titillate, Shock and disgust. Our protagonist Milos shares the same feelings as we do. When Vulmir goes to such extreme lengths for his art, Milos is disgusted and repulsed by what he witnesses. The director's intentions are evidently clear. If this was just to simply shock the audience, Milos would be Masturbating over that infamous scene or something else absurdly distasteful to simply produce shock cinema. The film is truly a moral piece of filmmaking. It does not accuse it's audience of these crime's what we are subjected to. It blames the people in power for committing these atrocities. If media values allowed for news or Serbia's history to be made accessible to the general public, the director's wouldn't have needed to go to these lengths. I fully believe the reviewers and the censorship board have wrongly restricted people to fully judge this work. As adults we should have the right to view content which we want to see. That's be honest here, a subtitled film rarely attracts a mainstream audience. This movie was only going to be seen by a selected audience that were interested in it. By altering (and i mean that in every sense of the word) and censoring the work, the audience is left with what all the press has built up as the ultimate torture porn movie. For example; in the first porn shoot, the images what Milos see's is vital to his psychological development. This scene as many others have lost there impact and meaning. This moment is simply now an extended blowjob scene without any of the depth or substance it had in the first place. The saddest and most disturbing factor is the accessibility of the uncut version on the net. The internet is unrestricted, at least certifications prevent younger audiences from seeing such material. As the film has now been trimmed and the publicity it has caused, many people will see it uncut and just see it for the shocking sequences. When you see the film, you realise all the press is misleading. It is not the sick, exploitive movie it was described to be. The sooner people like yourself allow for an audience to judge the film on it's own flaws and merits, the better the film will be for an audience.

I'm currently planning a special podcast to allow an equal sided debate about the themes, content etc. Would you be interested Nigel in participating, if so please contact: www.thexperimenthq.cjb.net