A Serbian Film

[Keef Monkey]

Right, I don't normally go for spoilers, but when a friend tells me something is the sickest film EVAH and that I should never ever watch it I'm gonna check the plot synopsis on wiki. And....fucking hell.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Serbian_Film

[Withnail's liver]

Jeeesus.

Fetch the mindbleach.

One thing that did leap out a strange in the whole synopsis is that rigor mortis doesn't usually set in for a few hours after death (depends on ambient temperature) so the bit about [spoiler]beheading the woman so he can induce rigor mortis during sex[/spoiler] wouldn't happen.

But seriously, why would anyone even film shit like that...

[Buttonman]

Weird - although this was a 2009 film my brother told me to have a look just tonight and here we are!

He watches any old slasher toot and is pretty much unshockable but says this one takes the biscuit. And craps all over it and feeds it to an old woman, who is on fire.

Looking forward to it!

[JOE SOAP]

Just seems like an exercise in nihilism to me.

If you really want something that pushes things in terms of craft and has a point or many points, have a goo at "Possession" (1981), Sam Neill, Isabelle Adjani, directed by Andrzej Żuławski. It's the film Lars von Trier ripped off for Antichrist, only it's a million times better and one of the best directed films I've ever seen. Goes beyond what any "horror" film has done and there's fuck all gore.

http://carnivalobscura.blogspot.com/2008/03/10-most-disturbing-films-1-possession.html

http://fantasticvoyages.wordpress.com/2010/03/02/andrzej-zulawskis-possession-1981/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Possession_(1981_film)

[Emperor]

I stumbled across this a few weeks back as a certain writing droid has been awfully enthusiastic about it on the Wednesday Chat.

The key three words are enough to set off warning bells: Serbian horror film. The description doesn't help, as I'm not a big fan of torture porn.

Jeeesus.

Fetch the mindbleach.

One thing that did leap out a strange in the whole synopsis is that rigor mortis doesn't usually set in for a few hours after death (depends on ambient temperature) so the bit about [spoiler]beheading the woman so he can induce rigor mortis during sex[/spoiler] wouldn't happen.

One would have to assume it is more a form of an extreme donkey punch, where you'd get your "jollies"* from the death throes - like the inverse of gerbilling. I don't know if it has a technical name (I'm sure it has) but it can be an aspect of lust murder.

* Although this seems the least jolly thing I can think of.

[Peter Wolf]

It seems you can make a film that includes raping a baby and god knows what else and then say its a political statement but Serbia has a historical background of various atrocities and lots of it so i am not going to judge the filmmakers for indulging in violence but if there is a political message then its very nihilistic.

Its not a film i would watch and thats not because i am soft or because i am offended but because there is enough horror in real life without having to watch it in a film.I dont find it titillating in the slightest.

[Emperor]

Its not a film i would watch and thats not because i am soft or because i am offended but because there is enough horror in real life without having to watch it in a film.I dont find it titillating in the slightest.

Exactly how I feel - in my younger days I may taken this film on as a challenge to see if I could sit through it (like a combination of the end of a Clockwork Orange and a Japanese gameshow) but nowadays that kind of thing just depresses me. Plus going for outrageous, "realistic" violence can be technique used to distract the viewer from the fact the film-makers don't have a decent story or even a point.

[Peter Wolf]

Plus going for outrageous, "realistic" violence can be technique used to distract the viewer from the fact the film-makers don't have a decent story or even a point.

The filmmakers who make films with this kind of content know only too well that it sells and it creates controversy.

These kinds of films are just too close to the real thing like a snuff film.

[john_s]

...except there is no such thing as snuff.

"A Serbian Film" is pretty fucking out there, as far as pushing those transgressive buttons goes.  Yeah, it's brutal and nasty and over-the-top, and Christ knows what (if any) point it's trying to make, but it is weirdly affecting, in its own way, and not quite as nihilist as it seems.  I can't see it getting a proper theatrical release, though - but if it did I suspect this current government would come down on it like a tonne of bricks.  It'll be the start of the '80s "video nasty" hysteria all over again...

Typically, the director reckons it works on a "metaphorical level":

http://community.livejournal.com/ohnotheydidnt/49019028.html

Oh, and yeah, "Possession" is a brilliant film!  It's proper mental - and the monster (and what it gets up to!) is a fantastic creation.  Coincidentally, it too was on the banned "video nasties" list for years, although it's more of an art film than anything...

[JOE SOAP]

Oh, and yeah, "Possession" is a brilliant film!  It's proper mental - and the monster (and what it gets up to!) is a fantastic creation.  Coincidentally, it too was on the banned "video nasties" list for years, although it's more of an art film than anything...

It's all things to all men and one of those films that when you first see it you say, how come I've never heard of this before and who can I now show it to that won't wig out during it?

[JOE SOAP]

Maybe they can frachise "A Serbian Film" and make new versions in each country ( An American Film, An Irish Film, An Icelandic Film etc.) sort of like "Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans". I'd like to see Herzog's version of "A German Film".

[john_s]

...David Cronenberg's "A Canadian Film"...  Gasper Noe's "A French Film"...  how about Uwe Boll on "A German Film"?

Nah, actually.  Scratch that last one!

[Richmond Clements]

how about Uwe Boll on "A German Film"?

Leni Riefenstahl surely?

[Keef Monkey]

I'll be honest, I actually stopped reading the synopsis half way through, figured I'd got the gist! I'm a bit of a gorehound, and if someone tells me a movie is really disturbing that'll generally encourage me to watch it (dunno what that says about me), but I doubt I could sit through this with my mind intact. Saying that, I don't know how its presented in film, but I really can't imagine how they got away with some of the stuff that's described there.

Possession on the other hand sounds interesting, think I'll lovefilm that one.

[Emperor]

Possession on the other hand sounds interesting, think I'll lovefilm that one.

For those, like me, wanting to track this down, there is a new DVD coming out in the next few months, not sure what it adds to older DVDs but most of those are not so easy to get hold of and are increasingly expensive:

www.amazon.co.uk/Possession-DVD-Isabelle-Adjani/dp/B003WUXJ2G/