I am one of the most liberal critics you will ever find, but even I have to preface this review by offering my MOST SEVERE WARNING to anyone who may be thinking about seeing this film. You cannot even imagine the extremity of “A Serbian Film” — even in your darkest, most evil thoughts, I doubt you could conjure up what transpires on screen during its 100 minutes. This is the film that, whenever anyone mentions some of the most controversial movies ever made (“Maladolescenza”, “Salo”, “Cannibal Holocaust”, “Ichi the Killer”, “Baise Moi”, “I Spit on Your Grave”… etc), others reply with, “Yeah, yeah… But have you seen “A Serbian Film”?”
It makes those other “controversial” films seem like Disney classics.
The general plot involves a retired porn star named Milos, living a quiet existence with his beautiful wife and young son, who is offered an extraordinary sum of money to appear in one last movie. The chance to financially secure his family for the rest of his life is too good to pass up. He accepts the role. Oddly, though, the director is unwilling to tell him much about the “artsy” project, explaining to Milos that the performance will be more natural without the details. However, a few days into the shoot, Milos is confronted with scenarios that go beyond his moral boundaries. The director must then find alternative methods to get the performance he wants out of Milos.
There are acts of unspeakable violence and perversion in this film, the likes of which have never been seen in a mainstream release. They are so extreme that I dare not detail them in this review for fear that my website will be monitored by the FBI or Interpol.
Why did I seek this film out? Well, I like Harry Knowles of “Ain’t it Cool News”. He is entertaining and honest… and despite being a little too forgiving of some genres of film (animation, sci-fi and fantasy), he usually has good original taste. He recommended “A Serbian Film” by placing it in his 2010 Top 10 List. I felt that I had to seek it out. I will also concede that there is an element of rubbernecking involved too.
Some of you will be tempted to seek this film out. Most of you will not be able to find it. It is banned in a number of countries and will have enormous difficulty finding any kind of distribution. That being said — the determined few who want to subject themselves to this shocking endeavor will likely be disappointed by the film.
The director is quoted as saying, “This is a diary of our own molestation by the Serbian government… It’s about the monolithic power of leaders who hypnotize you to do things you don’t want to do. You have to feel the violence to know what it’s about.”
I think that is a clever way of excusing a very exploitative film.
