Serbian Sex, Lies & Videotape

SERBIAN FILM

Release date: January 3rd 2011
Certificate (UK): 18
Running time: 95 minutes
Lanuage: Serbian with English subtitles

Director: Srdjan Spasojevic

Cast: Srdjan Todorovic, Sergej Trifunov, Jelena Gavrilov,

Few independent films from 2010 have been talked about as much as A Serbian Film has. In a short space of time since its release, the film has gained notoriety at the speed of a wildfire based on its graphic scenes of sex and violence.

Written by Serbian horror film critic Aleksandar Radivojevic and directed by first-timer Srdjan Spasojevic, A Serbian Film is described by Radivojevic as

It might well be that, but it’s also like saying Toy Story is about the proletarian struggles against the bourgeoisie.

Retired porn star Milos (Srdjan Todorovic) is now a family man trying to make ends meet. One of his former co-stars, Layla (Katarina Zutic), introduces him to Vukmir (Sergej Trifunovic), a powerful man in the porn industry who is looking for a star for his latest project. If Milos accepts the offer, his family will never have to worry about money again, but Vukmir wants him to sign a contract which insists on his absolute unawareness of the scripted scenes they are about to shoot. 


The project turns out to be an experiment of unbelievable cruelty and madness orchestrated by Vukmir who calls it “art”. As Milos is drawn deeper and deeper into the director’s insane vision, the very thing he hoped to protect and is willing to make any sacrifice for is what he will end up destroying himself.

A Serbian Film has been likened to films such as Requiem For A Dream, Videodrome, Irreversible and Antichrist, but after watching it, its impossible to compare. While it makes very obvious nods to David Lynch in its depiction of a nightmarish world, A Serbian Film ultimately struggles to find its own voice and even if it did, it would have nothing substantial to say.

Deciding to go with the idea that the film could be a political statement about the mistreatment of citizens by its government would be fine if only the film addressed these issues, but as it is, what we are left with is a movie set about a director who wants to make a real-life snuff movie. To say that it’s about the porn industry would be misleading as well since it gives no real insight into this world either.

A Serbian Film tries to do for government and politics what the Human Centipede did for medical ethics but the difference with The Human Centipede is that it was upfront about what it was really about; the mad fantasies of an insane man. A Serbian Film might have had 49 cuts made before the British Board of Film Classification could pass it but that’s not a merit to sell it on either, the movie might upset and offend but I found it embarrassingly boring.