Character Analysis: Vukmir Vukmir
By: A. Aleister Sirrat
Few films in the world
have gained as much notoriety or infamy as the 2010 Psychological Gore Film “A Serbian Film”. The Film has been banned from playing in
theaters in countries around the world.
You can usually find this film on a list of “Most Controversial Films of
All-Time” or “List of Banned Films” along with other titles such as “Cannibal Holocaust” or “Salo, the 120 Days of Sodom”.
Despite my attempts to avoid this film at all costs, my friend Das Film
Junkie has convinced me to finally see this film this week, and I have to
say...it’s not that bad. Don’t get me wrong this film is graphic and
towards the end is just horrifying image after horrifying image, but I do agree
with him that it’s probably not the worst or most graphic film I’ve ever
seen. So to honor the milestone of me
finally seeing “A Serbian Film”
without losing my sanity, I have decided to do a Character Analysis on the
films antagonist Vukmir Vukmir
CHARACTER: Vukmir
Vukmir from “A Serbian Film” (2010)
Vukmir Vukmir is a
former Child Psychologist (and former Government Worker who produced Children’s
Television shows for the Serbian Government) turned Independent
pornographer. Vukmir has a dream of
starting an “Artistic Porn Revolution” in Serbia. Vukmir recruits Milos, a famous retired
Serbian adult film start to appear in his films. Milos is reluctant to join at first, but
Vukmir promises Milos that if he does this film then he and his family will be
set financially for the rest of their lives.
Every day Vukmir sends a mysterious bald driver who wears sunglasses to
pick up Milos, and as soon as Milos arrives on set he is given an ear piece and
tells Milos everything he wants to do in the film. At first things appear to be pretty typical
on set, but then Vukmir starts encouraging Milos to do things that go against
his beliefs and desires, such as physically assaulting a woman on set, and
allowing a young girl to watch him have sexual acts performed on him. Vukmir pushes Milos over the edge and drives
him to quit when he shows him a video he made of the driver sexually assaulting
a newborn baby. However, Vukmir isn’t
going to let Milos leave that easily and has him secretly drugged with something
that he describes as “Viagra for bulls”.
The use of this drug distorts Milos perception on reality and makes him susceptible
to anything Vukmir tells him.
THE ACTOR
Vukmir is played by Serbian
Actor Sergej Trifunovic. I wish I could
tell you more about Trifunvovic as an actor, but I’m afraid, I couldn’t find
that much about him. Most of his work in
film and television is in his native Serbia, but has had some small parts in
American films; most recently had a small part playing a sailor in the 2012 “The Raven” with John Cusack. I think Trifunovic, was absolutely wonderful
in this role providing the right amount of fear and determination for this
character, and Vukmir is probably one of the Most Underrated Villains in Film of
the past decade.
Character
is Similar to or Inspired By
Off the top of my head I would say
that Vukmir is similar to the Jigsaw Killer from the “Saw” franchise, however Vukmir doesn’t hide behind a mask (or dummy
I should say). Like Jigsaw, Vukmir has a
desire to control other people and make them do things against their will, like
murder other people. I would also say he’s
like Dr. Hannibal Lecter: both have backgrounds in psychiatry and use their
superior intelligence to get into the minds of their victims and manipulate
them. Only Vukmir doesn’t kill his victims; he has other victims do that for
him. I think it’s also safe to say that
Vukmir has a God Complex. He has a need
and desire to control people’s lives and that is made apparent when he has Milos
and his film crew wear an ear piece so he can feed them instructions.
| Jigsaw Killer from "Saw" |
 |
| Vukmir with Milos from "A Serbian Film" |
 |
| Dr. Hannibal Lecter from "Silence of the Lambs" |
FATE OF THE
CHARACTER
 |
| You got what you deserved you sick-o! |
Vukmir takes his
control over Milos to the extreme. Milos
finds a tape and discovers that when Vukmir and his film crew drugged him they
also filmed him being sexually assaulted by members of Vukmir’s crew, forced
him to decapitate and rape a woman, and forced him to perform in a scene where
Milos brother sexually assaulted his wife while he forced to sexually assault
his son. Upon realizing the awful things
that Vukmir forced Milos to endure over the past three days, Milos launches
into a blinding rage and beats Vukmir’s head against the floor. In his final moments of life, Vukmir smiles
and claims that he believes his film has achieved beauty and perfection. It was a violent and gruesome end to a truly violent
and psychotic individual.
