@why have a BBFC at all?

It's a long running sociology experiment started in the 80s to see if video nasties cause violence.

If James Ferman - who presumably has seen more nasty scenes than anyone in the country - goes on a lust fueled chainsaw driven murder rampage, then we know watching naughty videos are bad for you. If he ends up in the house of lords we know they aren't.

Blame Canada

Here in the land of the beaver (next door to the land of the free) a single complaint got Dire Strait's "money for nothing" banned across the country.

Apparently "that little f*gg*t with the earing and the makeup" caused offense to a single person in Newfoundland.

when I was a

When I was a lad I'd have been all over this film, however as the years have gone I really can't deal with the entire genre (as in it has no appeal what so ever) I think it was the Japanese girl in Hostel that did it. I mean when I was a teenager I was desperate to get my hands on the early Guinea Pig project films, but now I wouldn't touch them with a barge pole.

My mate keeps trying to make me watch it -.-

However the story points out the Police view on personal movie habits, I'm sure they would have soon been snooping around for lists of people who'd borrowed the film. Looking to see how far they can spread the fear. Also as mentioned - the police have far better things to do in Northampton, and a quick though "hmmm what are the chances that blockie decided to replace the bbfc version with an uncut version hmmmm"

What is really worrying here...

Is the fact that a single complaint can have this effect. I know that similar has happened in art galleries. So all that you have to do is complain to the police that you are offended by something, police head down to take a look because they are 'obliged' to (mind if it is a burglary or a real crime you might get nowhere). Police investige, decide that they are not sure (what to do) gallery/distributer panics and pull the item just to be sure. This could lead to a lot of fun?

Another example of the police being seen to act. In Birmingham on sunny afternoon about three years ago there were a lot of schoolkids sitting on the benches and the lawn of the cathedral square. Not causing any bother. Police moved them on (about 50 kids). I asked the police woman why - she said there was a complaint from a member of the public who felt threatened by the group of kids so they felt that they had 'to respond'. Tough on the kids though. Seems to me that this 'being seen to do something' is a cancer eating away at common sense in British society.

Please don't watch

Unfortunately I watched this film several months ago and the images it contained still haunt me. The film makes Hannibal seem like a child's Disney cartoon. There are no redeeming features in A Serbian Film. All your worst imaginings and more are there.

Whilst I would never be in favour of any form of censorship in this case I would plead with people not to watch the film for their own peace of mind. Very few people would, I submit, wish to watch it all the way through. Even fewer would want to watch it again or recommend it to others.

I did not believe critics view that echo mine - I wish I had.

if something is in bad taste

then obviously just ban it.

that will solve all the problems and then life can go back to being fantastic like it was before modern media existed.

I'm happy to roll back science a bit too. Everyone knows the earth is secretly flat and Jesus is hiding the dinosaurs.

peace.

and so it begins

So it shows/depicts child molestions sceens of a dubious nature.

"PC Plod"

Dear Block Busters,

It has come to our attention that said film contains the above. Please email us by un-enycrpted memory stick left on the No3 bus where the finest constabulary member may pick it up all the names and address's of said people who have every rented this film. Also send security tapes us all those people who have in anyway looked at the sleve or picked it up from your shelves to read.

That way we can go and arrest them just in case.

I mean Blockbusters of course is synonymous will under the counter P0rn and illegal material "NOT!"

well, i watched most of this film...

yeah... err... hmm. I can see why a complaint was made.

I found Centipede to be funny. This... erm... yeah. I'd give it a miss if I were you.

re: Defense of A Serbian Film

I have now seen this film around five times, now both in it's cut and original version. Before I get a backlash accusing me of seeing this illegally; I was accepted onto Raindance's film festival's uncut presentation last year. I have since defended the film as an important piece of art. A Serbian Film is undoubtedly one of the toughest movie experiences in years, yet the film being accused of simply torture porn is totally invalid. The movie uses aesthetics of the genre (this is true), yet throughout the entire film we have a proper narrative, characters we (as the audience) care about which makes the film's second half all the more problematic and disturbing.

Film’s such as Murder Set Pieces, Grotesque, Hostel and even the later Saw films have little to no plot. They are simply just about presenting the spectacle of violence in a pornographic manner. In this movie, violence is presented in a truly uncompromising manner which goes to such lengths to denounce violence outright. Yes, the film contains very taboo breaking and controversial content, however nothing is simply placed there just for shock value.

Everything presented in A Serbian Film is an allegorical piece of filmmaking. In the director’s statement (which can be found at www.aserbianfilm.co.uk) Srdjan Spasojevic states: This film serves not as a documentary depiction of our reality, but as an X-ray, a diagnosis of the malformed and disease-driven soul of our society. That is the reason for showing the almost unshowable scenes in the film in such unrestrained and direct manner. The violation, humiliation and ultimate degradation of our being must be felt and experienced by every viewer so that it cannot be ignored. Those scenes figure and communicate as literal drawings of our disfigured and raped emotions. You may call it torture-porn, but to us, it is our life.

This point has been debatable since it's release; but I feel it becomes clear when we see the hierarchy figure of Vulmir (The film's Antagonist) and the treatment of Milos (the film’s Protagonist) which presents deeply political undertones. It also becomes clear when you judge the entire film as a whole and not on individual scenes; the argument the filmmaker is making about the treatment of his citizens in his country. The problem with the BBFC decision to cut the film by four minutes has created a bigger notoriety surrounding the film. Countless online debates about the film’s content and portrayal of violence have created more attention towards this film.

Efficiently the film would have been seen by few people, those that were interested in extreme cinema, foreign films and horror. Now all this attention has created a storm of illegal downloads of people not supporting a cut version but seeing the film in its original state. Because of this development, people are taking it upon themselves to watch the film simply just because of it’s more controversial moments. This has lead to reaction videos, similar in the tradition to internet videos such as: 2 Girls 1 Cup; which i have to say frankly disturbs me. I’m not disturbed that people are seeing the film, but people are ignoring the film as a whole and just forcing themselves to see the New Born Porn sequence and it’s nihilistic conclusion.

The recent developments with Blockbusters will undoubtably secure that this film will never get an uncut certification in this country. It’s true that average film goers would be appalled by the film and they should. This is one of the film’s intentions. The violence is never meant to be fun. The film is profound in many areas. Its not a masterpiece but is an important film. The questions we must ask ourselves: Were you aware of the atrocities that occurred in Serbia? Did you even acknowledge that Serbia existed? The film has put the spotlight on Serbia to an international audience. If you explore Serbian art it resembles what the film portrays. Nothing is new, just that this representation of Serbia has provoked the strongest reaction yet.

I have now seen this film around five times, now both in it's cut and original version. Before I get a backlash accusing me of seeing this illegally; I was accepted onto Raindance's film festival's uncut presentation last year. I have since defended the film as an important piece of art. A Serbian Film is undoubtedly one of the toughest movie experiences in years, yet the film being accused of simply torture porn is totally invalid. The movie uses aesthetics of the genre (this is true), yet throughout the entire film we have a proper narrative, characters we (as the audience) care about which makes the film's second half all the more problematic and disturbing.

Film’s such as Murder Set Pieces, Grotesque, Hostel and even the later Saw films have little to no plot. They are simply just about presenting the spectacle of violence in a pornographic manner. In this movie, violence is presented in a truly uncompromising manner which goes to such lengths to denounce violence outright. Yes, the film contains very taboo breaking and controversial content, however nothing is simply placed there just for shock value.

Everything presented in A Serbian Film is an allegorical piece of filmmaking. In the director’s statement (which can be found at www.aserbianfilm.co.uk) Srdjan Spasojevic states: This film serves not as a documentary depiction of our reality, but as an X-ray, a diagnosis of the malformed and disease-driven soul of our society. That is the reason for showing the almost unshowable scenes in the film in such unrestrained and direct manner. The violation, humiliation and ultimate degradation of our being must be felt and experienced by every viewer so that it cannot be ignored. Those scenes figure and communicate as literal drawings of our disfigured and raped emotions. You may call it torture-porn, but to us, it is our life.

This point has been debatable since it's release; but I feel it becomes clear when we see the hierarchy figure of Vulmir (The film's Antagonist) and the treatment of Milos (the film’s Protagonist) which presents deeply political undertones. It also becomes clear when you judge the entire film as a whole and not on individual scenes; the argument the filmmaker is making about the treatment of his citizens in his country. The problem with the BBFC decision to cut the film by four minutes has created a bigger notoriety surrounding the film. Countless online debates about the film’s content and portrayal of violence have created more attention towards this film.

Efficiently the film would have been seen by few people, those that were interested in extreme cinema, foreign films and horror. Now all this attention has created a storm of illegal downloads of people not supporting a cut version but seeing the film in its original state. Because of this development, people are taking it upon themselves to watch the film simply just because of it’s more controversial moments. This has lead to reaction videos, similar in the tradition to internet videos such as: 2 Girls 1 Cup; which i have to say frankly disturbs me. I’m not disturbed that people are seeing the film, but people are ignoring the film as a whole and just forcing themselves to see the New Born Porn sequence and it’s nihilistic conclusion.

The recent developments with Blockbusters will undoubtably secure that this film will never get an uncut certification in this country. It’s true that average film goers would be appalled by the film and they should. This is one of the film’s intentions. The violence is never meant to be fun. The film is profound in many areas. Its not a masterpiece but is an important film. The questions we must ask ourselves: Were you aware of the atrocities that occurred in Serbia? Did you even acknowledge that Serbia existed? The film has put the spotlight on Serbia to an international audience. If you explore Serbian art it resembles what the film portrays. Nothing is new, just that this representation of Serbia has provoked the strongest reaction yet.