A Serbian Film - Is it as bad as it sounds?

[peteyt]

Just wondered if anyone has seen a Serbian Film. I saw it in my local HMV and with no idea of what it was I thought I'd look it up. The DVD seemed to stand out.

I was then watching a documentary on the Video Nasties, as I'm doing my dissertation on violence in cinema, focusing on the horror genre, how it's changed, the reasons why etc. A popular director mentioned the film and so I looked it up.

Sounds pretty bad, and the words newborn rape certainly put me off.

Has anyone actually seen this?

[Special]

i'm sure it's banned in some countries

[Fez]

Important but revolting film, encompasses the situation with the Serbian people. The imagery at play is often not imagery but literally what happens in the country. I wouldn't watch it, I haven't, but it shouldn't be seen because of its revolting content alone.

[peteyt]

It's available here but cut.

It's one of those films that I don't want to watch but at the same time curious about.

[Misawa]

I reviewed it back in August. I was attending Film4 FrightFest as press where it was showing, but the BBFC demanded four minutes of cuts right before it was scheduled to show, so it had to be pulled. The legal release in the UK has over five minutes of cuts (which is huge) and so the film is very, very different to the fully uncut and original version that I saw (I was able to see it before it was cut - and legally). While it is highly disturbing and the baby scene is pretty shocking (which you don't see in the UK version), it's a very important film bursting with political metaphors about the oppression of the Serbian people. Even the baby scene is a huge metaphor. It's worth a watch but sadly you'll have to see the butchered cut. I got an invite to the premiere back in December but I declined. I've no intention of seeing it in its cut form, even though I own the Blu-ray.

[peteyt]

Is it legal to obtain an uncut version from overseas?

[Misawa]

No, it isn't. Without teh cuts it's totally illegal to possess in the UK. We desperately need to go the US route and be able to sell unrated DVDs.Cuts should not be happening in this day and age.

[peteyt]

This film sounds good and bad but I hate watching cuts. So if I did watch I'd probably wait

[Misawa]

Wait for what?

[Ashley]

A friend of mine watched it and said that she kept visualising disturbing things from it for about a week after and that it was affecting her sleep and concentration. I wouldn't watch it.