A Serbian Film (2 Viewers)

[billygannon]

Just read the plot on Wikipedia. I'm genuinely upset about this film.

 

[mark]

just read it. for fuck sake! i won't be seeing that film, thats for sure.

 

[Lili Marlene]

most read article on the irish times website last time I looked

edit: sorry, this:

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/features/2010/1209/1224285096711.html?via=mr

We were working with a processing lab in Munich. We had explained to them the nature of the film and what we were trying to do. But when we went to pick up the print, the lab managers were waiting for us with police officers. They had problems with the content and they were afraid that what they were watching was real. We had similar problems at the Magyar Processing lab in Hungary. After the job was done we were questioned.....The most common question at festivals is whether we killed or raped anyone,” says Spasojevic. “I have to keep explaining that the scenes with children are not real. They’re done with puppets and dolls. It’s absurd really.”

wow.

 

[Moods For Mallards]

Won't be seeing this either.

I'm sure it's very powerful and all.

 

[Lili Marlene]

Well sure you won't watch it once you've read all the spoilers. Who would?





Anyway, he says that watching it is to experience what it felt like to live in his country growing up, as a piece of art i'd watch it for that. But since I don't have time to watch any films at the moment I probably won't.

 

[Ferox13]

Who would?

.

Well I didn't read the spoilers but I've seen it...

 

[D0njo]

I dunno if I want to watch this either, but this might to be a decent review... "..it will only appeal to those most willing to wade into the darkest, ugliest corners of the world." yeah.. hmmm..

http://between2gigs.blogspot.com/2010/09/serbian-film-review.html

 

[ernesto]

its well shot. but its shite. and horrible and so stupid its funny

 

[Lili Marlene]

its well shot. but its shite. and horrible and so stupid its funny

so, where do you fit in here?

Again, I think a lot of the historical and cultural context will fly over the heads of viewers; A Serbian Film certainly sent me packing to Wikipedia to fill in my gaps in recent history. Smarter, more tuned in viewers will pick some things up, but I do wonder what reactions Serbs have to the political subtext of the movie. Still, I think that Spasojevic has filled A Serbian Film with enough weight that even the most clueless viewer will understand that there are issues under discussion here.

above it altogether?

 

[bogmanfan]

"We didn't set out to shock" says the film director.

This may be the biggest lie I've ever heard.

 

[ratmonkey]

This may be the biggest lie I've ever heard.

Have you heard anything any of the Government have come out with in the last while?

 

[bogmanfan]

Have you heard anything any of the Government have come out with in the last while?

I have, but I still stand by my original statement.

 

[hugh]

I'll probably never watch this because I am a bit of a wuss when it comes to this stuff but you know, I know plenty about what happened in the Balkans in the 1990's and I don't see how watching some movie about kids being raped is really going to extend my understanding of it very much. The director comes across as a complete dick. It might go over the heads of some Western viewers? You would want to be some kind of major fuckwit for the political subtext to go over your head as it's so completely and clunkingly obvious.

Then again, maybe it's amazing ...... Doubt it though

 

[ernesto]

so, where do you fit in here?



above it altogether?

wat?

 

[Lili Marlene]

I'll probably never watch this because I am a bit of a wuss when it comes to this stuff but you know, I know plenty about what happened in the Balkans in the 1990's and I don't see how watching some movie about kids being raped is really going to extend my understanding of it very much.

I believe his point is that the only way we can physically* experience how it felt to grow up there in the 80's and 90's is to give us something that makes us feel absolutely sickened to our stomach.

Which arguably a film that was literally a story about growing up there in the 80's and 90's wouldn't.

The director comes across as a complete dick. It might go over the heads of some Western viewers? You would want to be some kind of major fuckwit for the political subtext to go over your head as it's so completely and clunkingly obvious.

sorry, it wasn't the directer who said that, that was one of the reviewers, I should have clarified.




anyway, I still haven't seen it but ernesto says it's shit.





*mentally? physiologically?

 

[hugh]

I believe his point is that the only way we can physically* experience how it felt to grow up there in the 80's and 90's is to give us something that makes us feel absolutely sickened to our stomach.

There still seems something wrong about this. Is that really their motivation? Or is that just their excuse? Given that these guys are Serbian, and (I'm guessing here) from a cultural/social milieu that would have largely shielded them from the direct effects of the war (i.e. someone correct me if I'm wrong here but I doubt they were out on the front lines or manning the rape camps themselves) it seems somewhat disingenuous. That's not to say that they can't be extraordinarily angry about what was done in their name and the name of their country, and I presume they are, but then again ...... Here's a quote from a report from SXSW

After the movie ended, an awkward silence filled the room. Screenwriter Srdjan Spasojevic fielded questions during a Q&A, framing the movie as an angry reaction to the country’s rampant censorship laws. “This is a diary of our own molestation by the Serbian government,” he said. “We’re giving this back to you.” He pointed out that the movie, which has yet to play in its native country, reflects a hidden anti-government sentiment. “In the past 10 to 15 years, the only films made in Serbia have no connection to Serbian reality,” he said.

from http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2010/03/15/a-serbian-film-shocks-midnight-audiences-at-sxsw/

This seems to imply that what they are angry about is their Government not allowing them to make the kind of films they want to make and they see this as a violation of their rights. A molestation. If that's the case then .... boo hoo.

 

[Ferox13]

The director comes across as a complete dick. It might go over the heads of some Western viewers? You would want to be some kind of major fuckwit for the political subtext to go over your head as it's so completely and clunkingly obvious.

I think it has a message/political statement in the same way the Hostel movies do...

 

[Denny Oubidoux]

I agree with that review that I is John posted up to a point. I definitely don't think the war/serbia stuff is just an excuse to be a bit depraved and theres something to the suggestion that the film is an attempt to show how it feels to be both helpless and complicit in horrible shit (at least thats what i was thinking). the violence is pretty grisly but not quite what you might imagine in your head after reading the wikipedia plot summary, and you know its not real so it's no worse that reading american psycho in that sense. the worst thing about the film is that its a bit shite. the acting is shite, it looks shite, the sound track is shite. the director guy (the character) is a complete tool. maybe that was part of the plan but i'd prefer if it was a bit more stylishly produced.

on another note - are erections acceptable in mainstream cinema now? or have i been duped into watching a snuff movie? i dont know if they were real mickeys or not.

 

[washingcattle]

I'm making a film about Irish politics in which person after person drowns while a man in boat fishes for cod. It's three hours long the body count is astronomical and at the end you owe me €70,000 it's totally fucking sweet.

Anyway for anyone looking for a political point in a movie devoid of narrative or dialogue see this


http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097270/

Elephant Alan Clarke 1989

45 minutes of absolute mindless violence.

 

[Ferox13]

on another note - are erections acceptable in mainstream cinema now? or have i been duped into watching a snuff movie? i dont know if they were real mickeys or not.

I think they were stunt cocks...