Truly Dreadful Film

This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

I gave this film a 9 out of 10, because it was exactly what I expected it to be.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

I saw Stefan Arsenijevic short movies,and I really liked them all,he seemed like a extraordinary talented director,and I couldn't wait to see his new movie -Love and other crimes-. Bur right from beginning,I was feeling embarrassed cause I'm sitting and watching that on a big screen. These are the reasons:-Screenplay is really lame,situations that are happening are not understandable(especially that thing with song-b e s a m e m u c h o--disaster).And biggest mistake is -screenplay looks like it should point to some real problems in Belgrade,and it's completely untrue.I mean,it looks like it refers to reality and it's not.Loan sharks and crimes like that in 2008?! It's like when Americans make movie about war in Bosnia... Characters are insufficiently elaborated ,their relationships are pathetic and shallow,and not logical.Like he was shooting without a script,and solved problems by adding characters and dialogs just like that. I cannot say anything about actors,they are all good,Stefan also made a lot of good camera cadres of New Belgrade and also cadres are generally beautiful,but whole movie is not good,I really ask myself-WHAT happened to Serbian movie,we had really good screenplays in our past,why are intelligent people like Stefan exploiting these subjects in so shallow and stupid way?I would not go to see his next movie

I don't know where to start from. Story and screenplay for example: it is as if writers read a book in psychology, especially the part which contains examples of why are people getting depressed, and then put it all together in one pathetic script. There are some questions I wanted to ask: Why does a 14-year old girl go to the top of the building twice a day to commit suicide? Is the solution for suicide attempt singing "Besa me mucho" and eating two dozens of oranges a day? Who has ever got a girl by talking of how he was masturbating watching her when they were younger? I don't know much about life of petty criminals in Serbia, but do they really kill each others pets when they don't get their 30-40 Euros of extortion money per month from local pancake shop? Why does everybody in this film sing "Besa me mucho" for so many times? Pretty likable song became very boring one. Why does everybody have to be so unhappy? They've all failed in every aspect of their lifes: family, business, love, parenthood... Some characters are just thrown in to tell their pathetic stories and prolong film for almost an hour. No sign of happiness in this one. My expectations were big but bad script and some poor performances by some good Serbian actors (the script was obviously not the inspiring one) disappointed me. In the end you don't really care about who lives or who dies (although you know it after 5 minutes). Only good thing about this waste of time are filming locations. If you want to watch good Serbian film from the last decade, watch "The Trap".

You know you watched a really good film, when the credits end, and you caught yourself still sitting and thinking about the movie and all the messages entangled into it. I know it happened to me after Watching "Love and Other Crimes". The all-too-familiar ambient of the New Belgrade, Socialist style buildings and the people living there become a stage where the whole action of the movie is happening. What you see is people caught in the web of the past decisions, now time long regretting them, and without any bright future on their horizon. Their lives are put into the scope through the actions of the main protagonist, Anica, and her last 24 hours before permanently leaving this dark and gloomy place. She exacts her own justice (or should I say revenge) to all the people who where or still are important to her. But, when the young boy from the hood, Stefan, admits that he's in love with her, everything is about to change… This movie is about two most important things: Love…and change. It goes without saying, one cannot exist without other. Without love, there is no reason to change. But without love for yourself, there is no need to change, and that is far more destructive way to look and be in this world. From the begging to the end, this film shows us that by turning to yourself you start to heal not just your own mind and soul, but you also start the same thing in the people around you. Kudos to Stefan and the whole crew of this wonderful movie!

You may have seen my raves over Klopka from last year's Berlinale, but this year's offering was Love and Other Crimes (Ljubav i Drugi Zlocini in the original Serbian). I got excited the moment the film started rolling and I saw it starred Klopka's haunting Anica Dobra. At the end I stood up and asked, "What on earth is happening in Serbian film and how can we see MORE?" As an American, I can't help viewing the societal collapses endemic to Eastern Europe as the stimulus behind this post-modern film noir. But the director surprised me by answering my query in this vein with a note of optimism. Sure, of course, the end of open warfare is a definite positive, but to then see your society descend into the grips of common criminals in the inexorable name of capitalism, can hardly be optimistic!? I left the theater with the feeling that this particular young director had somehow surpassed himself, overreached his inherent ability. How wonderful when this is in service to art, and with the endlessly expressive face of Dobra, it is not hard to imagine this happening. Then, in further researching the film, I see a common thread -- Srdjan Koljevic, the co-writer -- and ask myself if perhaps he is the one to watch?