A Serbian Film: UNCUT (2010) (DVD Review)
Directed By: Srdjan Spasojevic
Starring: Srdjan Todorovic, Sergej Trifunovic, Jelena Gavrilovic
Rated: UR/Region: 1/Widescreen/Number of disc: 1
Available from Invincible Pictures
Milos, a retired porn star, leads a normal family life with his wife Maria and six-year old son Petar in tumultuous Serbia, trying to make ends meet. A sudden call from his former colleague Layla will change everything. Aware of his financial problems, Layla introduces Milos to Vukmir – a mysterious, menacing and politically powerful figure in the pornographic business. A leading role in Vukmir’s production will provide financial support to Milos and his family for the rest of their lives. A contract insists on his absolute unawareness of a script they will shoot. From then on, Milos is drawn into a maelstrom of unbelievable cruelty and mayhem devised by his employer, the director of his destiny. Vukmir and his cohorts will stop at nothing to complete his vision. In order to escape the living cinematic hell he’s put into, and save his family’s life, Milos will have to sacrifice everything. his pride, his morality, his sanity, and maybe even his own life.
I’ll give this movie credit for the unique plot. I think it’s an interesting plot. Even if it gets lost in the shuffle a bit, more on that later. Also, being set around a former porn star, you should know ahead of time that you will see very strange sexual acts that you may not actually want to see throughout the film. So, while there’s really just two scenes and the closing words to the film that push it over the point of no return in a moral sense (and both are here), there’s some pretty twisted stuff happening on screen before that, that people not use to shocking films might have issues with. But, that was actually somewhat the point. Apparently in that country there are strict laws against things you can and can’t do in a film, this was the bug “F you” to that. This was a fact I was missing when I first covered this.
While it packs a punch in the moral sense, I felt the drama and interest level of the film kinda wavers from time to time, as shock is put before good storytelling and gets lost in the fold and hardly returns. One must remember when making a film, no matter how shocking, to not lose track of the plot and the storytelling. I think this film skips that aspect at times and it does hurt the film overall. Boogie Nights was a story of a porn star but it had a great plot to work with, there was more than just a man with a very large penis on screen. This film at times seems like Boogie Nights from hell, minus a truly coherent plot. I still think now that those areas needed work. There is a plot, but I don’t think the focus is on it enough. There’s more mind tripping things going on than things holding the plot together. However, some may like that better. Perhaps I’m just weird, but I do like a little more actual plot. A little method to the madness, if I must use an old school phrase to describe it.None the less, the film looks good and has some bloody moments. It also has some moments that may be hard for a few to watch.
– None
