Things have come to a pretty pass when I find myself agreeing, even to a certain extent, with Mark Kermode, but Srpski film (A Serbian Film) (2010), by first-time director Srđan Spasojević (who co-wrote it with Aleksandar Radivojević, a Serbian horror film critic who penned the screenplay for Tears for Sale (2008)), is a movie unlike any that I have ever seen. I am going to beg you, first of all, to overcome your inevitable curiosity and avoid watching it, as you would avoid starring in a snuff film.
In the excellent discussion that I enjoyed following my recent viewing of A Serbian Film, I realized that my objections to it might well appear inconsistent, even hypocritical, to those who know me well enough to be aware that I have made it near-enough my life's work to defend horror across the entire range of artistic expression - I am not embarrassed in the slightest to declare my love of the macabre in much the same way as (with apologies for returning to this analogy) I am not afraid to declare my love of roller-coasters, those simulacrums of violent death. And why? Simply because, like roller-coasters, horror when done right makes you feel alive.
Let it be quickly stated, then, that I am obviously aware that A Serbian Film is only that, namely a film, and I am not jumping on the tabloid bandwagon concerning the likelihood of it bringing about ‘copycat' crimes or other such drivel with which real horror films are frequently afflicted - no, my objections, which exist in spite of the film's obvious technical (even artistic) competence, are purely personal.
Back to Mr Kermode - this respected-by-some BBC Radio 5 Live critic, after somewhat condescendingly saying that watching films was his job (ie, it's my job to protect you all from films like this, blah, blah) suggested that the film was a "nasty piece of exploitation trash in the mold of Jörg Buttgereit and Ruggero Deodato", adding that "if it is somehow an allegory of Serbian family and Serbian politics then the allegory gets lost amidst the increasingly stupid splatter".
One wonders whether Kermode saw the uncut version - the film only had a limited release in UK cinemas with four minutes and eleven seconds of its original content removed by the BBFC, which cited "elements of sexual violence that tend to eroticise or endorse sexual violence" (not at all, in the film's defence), meaning that A Serbian Film is the most censored cinema release in Britain since the Indian film Nammavar (1994), which had five minutes and eight seconds of its violence removed.
Nasty? Oh Lord, you have no idea how nasty. Exploitation? Well, there's the rub, because its director has staunchly defended the film against such charges. Spasojević said: "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."
For my own part I must say that, despite its unparalleled excesses, the film is *not* an example of ‘torture porn', such as Hostel (2005), the Saw franchise or Rob Zombie's The Devil's Rejects (2005), films that I now by and large find reprehensible because, while offering ‘titillating' extreme violence as a come-on, they nevertheless play it completely safe in comparison with A Serbian Film.
But, but...I have to come helplessly back to the fact that (having slept on it, and upon reflection) I cannot offer any justification for what I have witnessed - this is not a film that makes you feel alive, rather the exact opposite, and one that forces you to take a shower after watching it.
I am going to give you the briefest possible synopsis - Miloš (CastSrđan Todorović) is a mostly retired Serbian porn star with a beautiful wife and young son. In his day, he had the reputation of being just about the best in the business as far as ‘staying power' goes, but now he is feeling the pinch and is uncertain of his future and unsure of the loyalties of his brother, Marko, a bent cop who envies Miloš's family life. Then, he is approached by Vukmir (Sergej Trifunović), a wealthy, avant-garde pornographer who, knowing Miloš's reputation and his ability to become erect without visual or tactile stimuli, offers him one last very big payday (the amount is never revealed) to star in a porn film which, he says, will redefine the genre and give people what they ‘really' want - real life, real sex. Somewhat disturbed by Vukmir's reluctance to reveal more until he has signed on the dotted line, Miloš takes a chance and does so. And hell follows.
In a sense, I suppose I am sad - after some 30 years of watching horror, and 15 years writing about it, I have finally met my match in that this is a film I simply cannot defend, despite my cited and deep-seated adoration of the genre. I am not taking the moral high ground (at least, that is not my intention, my apologies if that's how it comes across), but I cannot in good conscience justify this film, to myself or to others. Much as I would, under normal circumstances, be more specific about the horrors on display, I feel that if I do, I would be playing the film's game or worse, indulging in ‘torture porn' tactics of my own, which is the very last thing I want to do.
Of course, some of the Expatica faithful will watch A Serbian Film. I will ask you once again, politely, not to yield to temptation, then conclude with the simple sentiment that I believe this film should never have been made. I'm done.
104 mins (Uncut). 95 mins (UK release). In Serbian and English.
James Drew
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Ahead of its pan-European release, Picturenose’s James Drew, a lifelong horror fan, nevertheless begs you not to watch this film.
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