Vegetarian Cannibal

cold picture about a kind of Julien Sorel. ambiguous end. interesting acting. result - a cold, gray image from East. it is a film about success. about appearances, ways to obtain it, about lost of conscience, more a parable than pure adaptation. Rene Bitorajac does a splendid job as the doctor of the present moment, materialistic, cynical, cruel in strange manner, selfish and victim of a circle who, at first sigh, protect him.but it is not a film about illusions. only about a form of survive who reminds others films from East - the Romanians are only an example - for present a too honest, direct picture of reality in a kind of naturalism as revenge against the Communist regime ideological pressure. a film from East. who reminds the presence of demons from many of its viewers.

First of all i am Croatian , but surely i would write shitty review if this Croatian movie would suck big time. Instead i am going to write really nice review of this film which i should write also for Metastaze of the same auteur/director/lead role. For me Rene Bitorajac rocks - BIG TIMES. Sometimes ( remembering American psycho) even more than Christian Bale at his greatest moments in AP.He proved his "Madness " in Metastaze already - thank you for that Rene ! Branko Schmidt did really fine work in both Metastaze and Cannibal/ Vegetarian as well , and he proved he is one of greatest Croatian directors living today. Ivo Balenovic is story for itself.Not only he is highlight for read in newspapers he is writing for , but also his two books of witch those two films are made of are top notch. But , if situation in Croatia would not be exactly as it was shown in those two books/ films the "Punch in the face " wold not be as strong as it is . Knowing the corruptness of Croatian society ,as ,by the way , it is known by every single Croatian citizen , enjoying of this film is a bitter pill , but also a satisfying one , cause all the poison is coming out in this two films - especially in Cannibal-Vegetarian.So government - i know you know - but you have to know that i know it too.

My biggest kudos are going on Rene Bitorajac - Christian Bale should learn from you.

The title has no relation to the plot of this Croation film. I would guess that something was lost in the translation.

Anyway, Rene Bitorajac plays Dr. Danko Babic, an arrogant gynecologist who is completely amoral. He manipulates patients records to cover up mistakes, and treats nurses working with him as sex objects. He becomes involved with some shady underworld types who run a strip club which doubles as a whore house. The owner is in need of a medical man to perform abortions on the girls who become pregnant at an alarming rate and Danko becomes his go to guy for the operations. A cautionary note here, as a brief dog fighting scene with Pit Bulls may put some viewers off, as will the frequent and nasty pregnancy termination shots, shown in graphic detail. This is not for the squeamish. Bitorajac is excellent as the evil doctor, surrounded by the mundane and equally corrupt physicians and police officials on the take. At one point, he bribes the pathologist to change his report to clear his obvious responsibility for a patients death; so much for the Hippocratic oath. There is no happy ending, and although it is thoroughly depressing and without any humor at all, I found it to be a realistic portrayal of human nature, with a final message of looking out for number one.

Thought I wold give this one a try. I wish I had not.

The pace of the movie is at fast forward through the whole thing, it snaps from scene to scene in incoherent leaps. The who's who and what's what takes you most of the first hour to get. The last 20 minutes is just a mess, and then its over. There seems to be no point or message, and when the movie ends it just ends, without any real ending. I'm miss context and substance, and I must say, the acting is mediocre at its best.

I could pick and poke at this flick for pages and pages on, but I'll leave it at that.

Unless you are especially interested in Croatian film; give this one a miss, it just ain't worth it!

at first sigh, it seems be not easy for a not East European to understand this provocative film. it could be define as thriller, as dark comedy, as satire or, so simple, as horror. but , basically, it is a fresco of a system work. corrupted, fake, egocentric, interested by appearances, brutal, hypocritical. and its virtue is to be the film of a real good director who reminds more than presents for a public familiar with the realities from health system.a Croatian movie who has the great virtue to be honest about everyday sins. because it is a film about the importance of appearances. about a not comfortable form of survive of mediocrity. and, sure, about the low price of the life of the other. a story from the East. nothing more.