Writer(s): Spasojevic and Aleksandar Radivojevic
Starring: Srdjan Todorovic, Sergej Trifunovic, Jelena Gavrilovic, and Slobodan Bestic
There are generally two kinds of horror movies I like to
watch: Those that are scary, and those
that are gory, which I guess kind of summarizes everyone who enjoys watching
horror movies, except that I search for the most extremes of each kind. The only caveat: My gore movies have to have some kind of
redeeming quality, which is why I stay away from straight-up gore films, like Faces of Death, or August Underground, or Slaughtered Vomit Dolls. Hearing that A Serbian Film was insanely
gross, but at least had some artistic merit and was well-made, I excitedly
popped it in the DVD player.
Following along is very simple: Milos (played by Srdjan Todorovic) is a
retired porn star who is eventually talked into making one final film, by
creepy film director Vukmir (Sergej Trifunovic). He is told it will be an “art house” film,
though it doesn’t take long for Milos, or the
viewer, to realize that something is not quite right. It starts off when he is forced to brutalize
a woman while ejaculating in her face…and then it’s even further downhill from
here.
Co-writer/director Srdjan Spasojevic is content with
spending the entire running time throwing one poorly-conceived, juvenile
gross-out scene after another at the audience.
It truly has the feel of two high school kids trying to come up with the
sickest things they can, in an attempt to outdo each other. Only, instead of staying in the back of a
classroom, it’s up on a screen for all to see.
However, the cumulative effect of the constant string of shocks wore off
for me about midway through, until the whole thing just became laughably
atrocious. By the time the infamous
“newborn rape” scene rolled around, the movie had completely lost me; it had
lost its power to provoke, or shock, and I actually laughed at the ignorance
required to even think of including such a scene, not to mention the awkward
staging of it. There’s no build-up or
lead-in (besides watching the woman give birth to it moments prior)…it’s just
there. Which aptly explains the whole
existence of this movie in the first place.
Ditto for a sequence near the end in which Milos and his
brother are raping two hooded people…if you are seriously caught off-guard by
the big reveal in this scene, as many people seem to have been, then you must
not have been paying attention; both my wife and I called the victims’ identities
way before they were revealed. Who knew
entering the mind of a hack could be so darn easy?
Of course, Spasojevic takes the easy route by claiming this
is an allegory for political unrest in Serbia, and claims that by watching
this movie, you feel how Serbs feel every day that they live in their
country. Political statements have long
been used to explain difficult films; the other most notable example (at least
off the top of my head) is Salo, directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini. As difficult as that movie is to stomach, it
wouldn’t be far-fetched to believe that there may be political motivations
behind it; after all, Pasolini was known for making political statements, both
in his own life, and in his movies. Even
the mysterious events surrounding his death, which went in the books as a
romantic rendezvous gone wrong, have been described as an assassination.
With nothing else in Spasojevic’s filmography to go off of,
it’s hard to give him the benefit of the doubt.
Of course, any movie scene can be spun to fit any agenda, but the only
feeling I got from the frames of “A Serbian Film” was desperation; it has only
a desperate need to shock and provoke.
Once that wears off, about thirty minutes in, all you're left with is the
exact type of movie I was trying to avoid; one that has nothing to say beyond
the shallow violence it depicts on the screen.
RECAP: A shallow movie with nothing to offer besides scenes
of violence that get gradually worse and worse as the movie goes on. However, by the halfway point, you’ll not
only be one step ahead of director Srdjan Spasojevic, you’ll also be laughing
hysterically at his inability to leave a scene on the cutting room floor, no
matter how juvenile and unnecessary it is.
RATING: 0/10
RED-BAND TRAILER:
No comments:
Post a Comment