Review of A Serbian Film (2010) by Adam C — 25 Jan 2013

Curiosity killed the cat, or in the case of this movie raped the soul...whichever you prefer. I'd heard about the movie, and kinda wanted to see it, never thought id find it. So when the video store had one copy, curiosity bit in.

I'm gonna start by saying yes it is as graphic as you've heard. Its bloody, its gory, its shocking, its horrifying and not fun to watch, but unlike other exploitation films its compared to...there is actually a little something to it.

Aesthetically, its beautiful, where most exploitation films are cheaply done, stereotypically B quality, A serbian Film is professionally shot. Everything about the visual work is perfect for the tone.

And of all the films iv'e ever seen, im not sure any one of them had a musical score that so effectively captured to tone of the plot, its some of the most haunting music iv'e ever heard, and with the content it fits perfectly.

Now the plot, if you can look past all the nasty, the movie does have something to be said. Iv'e never been to Serbia so I can't really accurately say its an exaggeration of abuses from their government as is the common interpretation.

But these things shown in the movie have happened, not as far as I know the way it happens in the movie, but the rape, abuse and all of it has happened in history. To me it was an analogy of abuse, certainly exaggerated, but that's the point of the movie.

To me the film takes the worst parts of humanity, exaggerates it, and throws it in the viewers face. It forces you to acknowledge that humans really can be that evil. Its mostly for the the greater depth that id take this over human centipede.

Human Centipede(eespecially the sequel) almost glorifies the horror. Nothing about the human centipede has deeper meaning, to me it just went for shock factor, rape for the sake of rape, disgust for the sake of disgust.

In A Serbian Film, all of the acts Milos commits are intended to horrify the viewer, he has no control over what he does, and rather than attempting to fetishize it, the movie shows it for what is is, pure horror.

So after seeing it pondering any meaning, I am going to recommend it, but if you do open up that box, do so lightly. If you can look past all the horrific scenes that made the film infamous, then go right ahead, but it isnt fun to watch, no matter what your ultimate conclusion about the meaning may be, it wont be entertaining, there will be parts you won't unsee, but there is more to it than other exploitation films.