About Those Serbian Film Child Porn Charges

Anyone who's been tracking the controversial 2010 horror pic A Serbian Film along the film festival circuit knows to expect something either artfully transgressive, dreadfully offensive, or something in between; even critics who liked it seem to agree that life would be better without having seen the acts depicted onscreen. But does anything in A Serbian Film warrant the child pornography charges reportedly lobbied at the Sitges Film Festival for merely screening the film?

According to Spanish newspaper El Pais, a complaint was filed by the city of Barcelona against Sitges Film Festival director Angel Sala for screening A Serbian Film last October, specifically pointing to two scenes involving the depiction of child sexual abuse. On paper, the list of images and events that ensue is disturbing enough, but the extreme scenes outlined by the Sitges claim go where most other genre films don't dare.

If you haven't already Googled it out of curiosity and wish to remain in the dark about the specifics of said scenes, skip the next five words. Consider yourself warned.

[SPOILER ALERT]

Baby rape and child sodomy.

[END SPOILERS]

Whew! That was intense. Here, cleanse your brain with this picture of kittens sleeping in bowls on Japanese television.

More background on A Serbian Film: The plot concerns Miloš, a former porn star enlisted to participate in a series of snuff porn films involving rape, sodomy, murder, and worse. Clearly, the scenes involving depictions of children top the most-offensive list, but there's plenty else in the film to test your limits as a viewer, which is precisely what first-time director Srdjan Spasojevic seems to be going for. "I am not speaking as a film critic, but as a human being when I assure you -- not paternalistically, but just as a practical matter -- that the vast majority of you do not want to see them," wrote Cinematical's Eugene Novikov. "I don't think the filmmakers will be offended to hear this. They surely know it."

The scenes involving children could be considered to fall under the category of simulated pornography -- but in Spasojevic's defense, nothing in the film seems designed to be enjoyed. Spasojevic's gone as far to suggest that his intent was to draw parallels to the plight of the Serbian people, even if critics are split over whether or not he succeeds in conveying that point or is merely provoking in the name of exploitation cinema.

Fearnet's Scott Weinberg, reviewing the film after its 2010 SXSW debut, lauded the visceral psychological effect as the cinematic equivalent to living through real horrors. "I'd venture to say that A Serbian Film could only come from a group of people who've lived through some stunningly painful experiences, and are now dead-set on throwing their collective fury on to a movie screen... The film posits the belief that once your eyes and your brain are pummeled with visions both horrific and inhumane, that you're never really the same."

But regardless of how successful A Serbian Film is in delivering more than just exploitative shocks -- and even if that's all it was ever intended to do -- the more immediate question remains, is Sala and the Sitges Film Festival guilty of exhibiting pornography? Come on, Spain. Common sense says no -- and the charges scream "censorship." Because even if you can't stomach watching A Serbian Film yourself, don't we want to live in a world where it can exist to disturb someone, somewhere?

A Serbian Film is set to be released theatrically in the U.S. this spring in both an R-rated and an uncut version.

· Sitges Film Festival Charged With Exhibition Of Child Pornography Over A Serbian Film [Bleeding Cool]