Review of A Serbian Film (2010) by Luke B — 08 Feb 2011

A film that is so controversial, I found it hard to find the IMDb page for it. It's been responsible for police raids in the UK. The director clearly wants to show how (figuratively) Serbians are fucked from the moment they are born until after they die.

Did he have to show such scenes in a literal sense? Probably not. You'll find plenty talking about the controversial aspects of this film, and plenty of arguments about the social commentary it represents.

I'd like to ignore most of that and just say that the film was too uneven to have an incredible impact on me. Sure, some scenes were grotesque in the ideas they suggested, but the film let itself down.

Sometimes the effects were spot on, representing a grisly and sickening feeling. Sometimes they were laughable (any shot of the plastic textured penis). Sometimes the violence seemed genuine, and others has men being stabbed in the eye with a penis.

All this lead to me being confused as to what the film was trying to do. What the film does offer is sick and nasty thrills, with a few scenes just going too far. Unlike the Human Centipede, which had a gross idea but left a lot to the imagination, this film shows it all, which isn't always to its credit.

I am interested in seeing the cut version, where the infamous newborn porn scene is edited so you don't see the actual act. Something tells me that is more disturbing, as the puppet used, reduced the nausea by seeming too animatronic.

If nothing else this film really does question "How far is too far?" and "Is censorship right?" Not for the weak of stomach, and certainly not a date movie.