It could be argued that this is pointing not to the strangulation of artistic expression, but to what the post-war Serbian government creates of its people. The monster he becomes under the control of Vukmir is unrecognizable to the man he is normally. He’s in need of money, he has a family that he loves, and he shows concern for pretty much everyone when he’s not in a drugged state. What Spasojević did right is creating a sympathetic character in Milos. Spasojević claims that people want to see the story of what Serbia went through in the nineties but they want to see it in a way that doesn’t challenge them, that gives them a compartmentalized and safe way to experience the suffering.Īgain, this is not to say that I necessarily agree with or think that all these points are made stunningly well throughout the film. From when Lejla puts her foot down to her death scene, we see a microcosm of brutality, censorship, and the chokehold irony of getting what you want. While it’s one of the more upsetting scenes, it’s also a sequence that lends the most validity to Spasojević’s statements: we fetishize suffering and desire to see it, yet we always control the way it’s presented to us. Clearly, this doesn’t work either and the last we or Milos sees of Lejla is footage of her restrained to a wall, badly beaten, and being forced to fellate a man who then suffocates her with his erect penis. Lejla (Katarina Žutić), a former co-star of Milos and the one who brought this job to him, does voice some concern and tries to leave the situation with Milos. We do witness another person trying to put a stop to the madness. Sadly, it doesn’t work and Milos is brought back into the fold kept all the more suggestible with an endless stream of injections. There’s even a scene featuring something called “new born porn” which disgusts Milos so intensely that he attempts to leave despite being under the influence and not in the best shape physically. The job devolves into all kinds of horrifying activities that Milos recoils from, yet is forced into by threats or drugging. The gist of the story is an aging porn star Milos (Srđan Todorović) is offered a lucrative, one-day job by a director Vukmir (Sergej Trifunović). Now, with that being said, does A Serbian Film accomplish what it sets out to? Well, kinda. It doesn’t matter that we’re still being entertained by someone else’s pain as long as it is laid out in the format we’re familiar with. We demand uncomplicated narratives about complicated topics so that we as the viewer feel comfortable. Movies that portray abuse or violence in a realistic but less than pearl-clutching way are often accused of being insensitive or playing the situations for laughs. This speaks to a trend in the US as well, where we tend to dictate how people can tell stories. the Western world has lost feelings, so they're searching for false ones, they want to buy feelings.” Digging a bit deeper, we begin to understand what he’s referring to in regards to political correctness as he says, “In Eastern Europe, you cannot get your film financed unless you have a barefoot girl who cries on the streets, or some story about war victims in our region.
He speaks openly about making the film to parody the modern Serbian films being released, films he claims pander to politically correctness while being financed with foreign funds. Interviews with the writer/director Srđan Spasojević expose the satirical nature of the film. Some of the more graphic scenes have a slight Evil Dead -look to them, that I'd argue was done intentionally.
Yet some of the scenes read as a bit campy despite being horrific. To start off, yes, this is a viscerally disgusting film. Others may have just heard how repulsive this one is and have no desire to see it. Some of you may have seen the actual movie. Such is the case with A Serbian Film (2010). If its message wants you to curl up in a ball and weep gently then it’s hard to say that that’s not a type of art. They carry substantial points on our humanity or our society, never mind those that are just simply stunning to look at. If a movie is considered art, it can be called so due to its beauty or its message, sometimes both. In its simplest definition, the point of art is to express something and the vast majority of movies have a lot to say. Perhaps not all of them, but I’m also not totally convinced that all art is 'art' anyhow, so whatever. I am one of those people who believes that movies are art.