A Serbian Film (2010)

A Clockwork Orange (1971), one of my favourite films of all time was once withdrawn from cinemas here in the Uk due the dark subject matter and graphic scenes. Growing up, it was the film had heard about, but had never seen, until the ripe old age of 15 when my world changed forever... It's true that some of the social commentary were lost on me in the first viewing but I knew I liked it. It was violent, over the top and unapologetically gruesome while somehow managing to remain stylish. I believe I can say the same about the 2010 Serbian film A Serbian Film by director Srđan Spasojević, except I don't like it nearly as much.

While violence and taboo subjects make for great watching, when you have no substance of story or character, and the grotesque visuals are all you're offering, you can expect little defence from film fans. Spasojević's tale of a former porn actor Milos (Srđan Todorović) is lured out of retirement for one huge (unspecified) payout. The catch? He doesn't know what the film is going to be about.

So the film starts off lighly enough, we see him living a normal enough life with his wife and child, but it's when his son (who's age isnt specified, but he's around 8/9) is caught watching one of his movies, and reacting by telling his dad those movies "do something to him" (alluding to arousal) that you know the kind of tone the movie is setting itself up for.

Without going into too much detail of what happens later, it's actually worse than you could ever imagine, as a hardened film fan I'm part of the "Grand theft Auto" generation (we're kind of like the "MTV generation" accept we're supposed to all be murderes and criminals) I'm pretty desensitised to movie/literary violence, but even I found myself cringing. While it hardly gave me nightmares, it was uncomfortable to watch, and possibly greatest "worst film I've ever seen".

Conclusion? While the Director protests the subject is an allegory to how Serbia has been forced into carrying out actions it didn't want to do, he hasn't played nuance or subtlety nearly enough for us to have any sympathy for the character (or for that matter, country) and if anything, the movie makes you feel that Milos/Serbia aren't taking responsibility for their own actions. While I think the film should be free to be seen by anyone who wishes it, be prepared as it is undoubtedly the film that you want to see, until you've seen it. 4/10