But where I tend to disagree with most people’s readings of the film is that I don't feel that this content exists purely to disturb. A Serbian Film is chock full of excessive violence of sex. So let’s start with the content of A Serbian FIlm, which tends to be the sticking point most people have with this film.

I know the traditional definition of snuff requires that it be unstaged, but the term applies just as well to staged scenes for the purposes of this discussion. Finally, I will define a snuff film as a work designed solely to endorse humanity’s most sadistic urge to watch others endure unimaginable pain. Pornography I will define as consciously created work designed to sexually arouse. The first of those is art, which I will define as a consciously created work designed to elicit an emotional response based on ideas. I’m sure not everyone will agree with them, but laying out some sort of definitions for these terms is essential to having an intelligent discussion about A Serbian Film.

Let me start by laying out three important definitions I will be referring back to throughout this write-up. I will try to address this issue in stages, first by examining its plot and content, then its filmmaking techniques, then conclude my thoughts by addressing meaning. I watched it today and feel that it is honestly one of the most misunderstood films that I have ever seen. A Serbian Film is one of those films that pretty much everyone seems to know about, but very few people have actually seen, and even fewer have made an effort to look past its apparent flaws to try to pull some sort of reading out of its insanity and beyond the director’s statements regarding the film as a window into the Serbian psyche.

A serbian film ending scene