My Defense of SERBIS -- Why It Is Not a Craptastix

This week on the InstaFlicka Podcast we reviewed the movie Serbis. I gave it a tepid three stars out of five, but spent a good portion of my time defending it.

I am under no delusion that there are very, very few people that will like Serbis -- hell, I am not sure I even like it -- but I feel it needs some defense. Here is my written review of the movie:

If you are not deeply committed to independent cinema or perhaps deeply into Asian pornography you won't like this film, but if you are... then I say give it a try.

Serbis -- a Filipino film with subtitles -- tells the story of a three-generation family living in and running a rundown former family movie theater that now runs soft-core porn and caters to a largely homosexual and illicit crowd. The dark movie house is filled with prostitutes, johns and who knows what else. It is all very unseemly in a movie theater that is just as disgusting as the things that go on there.

Throughout the theater there are signs that read “No pissing here.” It is fairly likely that wads of cum are as essential as mortar in holding the rather large and decrepit theater together.

We follow the family as they struggle to survive together and cope with the utterly un-family friendly confines that they are housed. The setting puts everyone's sexual desires and perversions on display for everyone else and especially the viewer.

The director spends a lot of the movie following his characters walking up and down the numerous stairways in the winding and expansive theater as if they are walking through a macabre maze. But no one seems to be getting out and the dead-ends lead to desperation, resignation and exploitation.

The whole thing is carnal, sad and darkly humorous. That last bit is important to note because it may not be altogether clear that this movie tries to be funny. It is easy to lose the humor while reading the subtitles.

If you approach this movie as if it were some kind of odd and disturbing telenovela, you are likely to have a better viewing and maybe even revel in some of the quirky melodrama.

Still, for many, this movie is painfully slow and perhaps unwatchable. I can understand that. There are many flaws. The sound editing is substandard in several patches; the camera work struggles mightily in some stretches, although it is competent in others places; and the dialogue is a little banal.

There is also an uneven -- or maybe just confusing -- tone to Serbis. I mentioned that you can get some delight out of the melodrama, but it is not hard to get thrown for a loop by what seems to be fits of earnestness.

There are moments that make you feel like Serbis is too serious to get away with some of its comical gags, yet there are also moments that make you feel like it is too ridiculous to be taken seriously. These shifts not only confuse the viewer but make one incredulous about the director's intentions.

Is it okay to laugh or should I feel bad that it made me laugh? How should I feel about being titillated by the non-simulated sex scenes? Is this film nothing more than a gritty porno about pornography? Does the director want me to be conflicted?

If this film wasn't worth anything I wouldn't be asking those questions, and if it was better crafted I might know some of the answers. The bottom line is that this venture demands some thought and an opinion -- good
or bad -- and that is more than I can say about a lot of things that flicker on the screen.