Serbia/2010
Directed By: Mladen Djordjevic
Written By: Mladen Djordjevic
Starring: Mihajlo Jovanovic, Ana Acimovic, Predrag Damnjanovic
Color/112 Minutes/Not Rated
The Film
In the last couple of years Serbia has become infamous for the shocking cinema it has turned out. Most notably is A Serbian Film which nearly turned the horror community on it's head and had internet forums fighting like school girls. Was it artistic? Was it garbage? Did it have any merit or was it simply meant to disgust? Well now we have another film from the area getting a wide American release on disc that we will inevitably be reading the same type of comments about on message boards.
THE LIFE AND DEATH OF A PORNO GANG is the story of Marko, a young film school graduate desperate to make his first feature film. Growing tired of life at home, having to entertain his father's friends including his own ex-girlfriend, Marko lands a job as a porno director. The porn industry is tied in with some shady people and when he uses money meant for a traditional sex tape on a more artistic adult film his mob boss is pissed and Marko has to leave town. He gathers a group of friends he's made while making porn and they form a traveling "porno cabaret" going from town to town and village to village performing live sex acts and living out of their wildly painted van. Money is tight and some villages chase them out of town so when Marko meets a man who wants him to film snuff movies for big bucks with willing participants, Marko can't say no.
The group makes the snuff films whenever their "producer" has a willing subject, using the porn shows as their main day to day job. Things get more dangerous with the murders as they're approached to perform it live in front of a high paying audience in a Snuff Theater. Between the group's personal health and drug problems, the authorities crashing down on them and more mob problems the group begins to crumble.
Shock value can be a valuable tool in an exploitative film such as this. However when a film relies almost entirely on shock to carry the film it all falls flat and leaves the viewer with only the bad taste that the shock has and nothing of any substance to wash it down. THE LIFE AND DEATH OF A PORNO GANG is chock full of shock value. From endless amounts of nudity from the entire gang, and swapping of used needles and STDs, to beastiality and animal cruelty this film isn't a nice one. The question is if it uses shock to grab the audiences attention for something greater. This isn't a horror film about a monster that blood and gore can be used as shock to add to the entertainment value. This is a film solely about people and their time spent together so the shock value really needs to lead to something. A perfect example of this is in Ruggero Deodato's Cannibal Holocaust. I personally feel director Mladen Djordjevic fell short on this task. Marko is a character that for the entire film we're waiting for a profound breakthrough or something bigger than a traveling fuck fest. He's educated and has a good mind but we never get to see him use it. The ending may give us a very small glimpse but it could have been more. THE LIFE AND DEATH OF A PORNO GANG may fall short of being a great film but there is more than enough here for fans of this type of movie to find a couple hours worth of entertainment.
The Video
The Special Edition Blu-Ray of THE LIFE AND DEATH OF A PORNO GANG comes to us courtesy of Synapse Films in a 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen presentation in full 1080p HD and is all region. The picture quality is very good overall. The intended look of the film includes a documentary style at various points throughout that don't look as crisp as the more traditional scenes but even those still look good. This is another great transfer from Synapse.
The Audio
The film is presented in it's native Serbian with English subs in a DTS-HD 2.0 stereo track that is clean and clear of any hiccups or distractions. Levels are fine and steady. The subtitles are spot on and a breeze to read along with.
The Extras
Made In Serbia - This is a feature length documentary from the film's director on the Serbian adult entertainment industry.
"Making Of" Featurette
Deleted Scenes
Theatrical Trailer
The Bottom Line
Synapse Films knocks the ball out of the park here with another stellar package. The movie will certainly divide audiences and their feelings towards what they've seen but one thing no one will be able to discount is the top notch release the film was given.
THE LIFE AND DEATH OF A PORNO GANG is available HERE
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