The Trap reflects the sullen face of a Serbian society in painful transition. It is a modern film noir about an ordinary man who is forced to choose between the life and death of his own child. Set in post-Milosevic Serbia, The Trap illustrates a post war moral and existential desert, where human life is devalued, and normal living still seems unreachable.
The Trap is director Srdjan Golubovic's follow-up to his hit European debut Absolute Hundred. After the opening of The Trap at the Toronto International Film Festival, Srdjan Golubovic met with the Epoch Times for an exclusive interview.
Epoch Times (ET): What inspired you to make the film?
Srdjan Golubovic (SG): There are three reasons. One is that in Serbia, we live in the country, where we really do not have a choice, or else both choices are wrong. We live in a country where we are constantly choosing the lesser of the two evils. This was one aspect of the story that I liked. Another aspect that inspired me was that it is a story about redemption. And my feeling is that the whole society in Serbia has to go through redemption and catharsis, because during the wars we did many bad things. We are not only guilty, but we are more guilty than others, and many terrible things happened. The whole society and each person has to have his own catharsis, because without it we cannot move forward. That was another aspect that I was interested in. And I also wanted to make a story about a good man, an educated man with a brave heart—a universal story, that could happen anywhere, and is understandable everywhere.
ET: There are very challenging questions in this film. What would you do if you were in the character's place?
SG: I made this film, because I don't know what I would choose, and that is my answer. Friends of mine said, that they would kill to protect their child, but I don't believe in that answer. I think, they will go to the building of the guy they have to kill, and they would cry for three days. I think, that it's very difficult to kill somebody. For me, it was very important to make such a film, because the value of life in Serbia is still not high. I wanted to make a film about a good man who has to do something like that, and about redemption after he's done it. A film about breaking of all his moral values, and those of the whole society.
ET: Harsh reality in Serbia serves as a powerful backdrop for this film. What role did it play?
SG: It is very important for me to make this film for Serbia, because after the wars people do not like to see dramas, they like to watch comedies. It is very important to make these extremely realistic films, and try to have a dialogue, so that educated people in Serbia will start to think about our reality. Most educated people in Serbia decided to be blind after all that had happened to us. It is very realistic for Serbia, that an engineer and a teacher cannot survive on their salary, and that is when the moral values are broken – honest people cannot live without committing a crime. Actually, a car theme is very prominent in this film: some criminal tycoon drives a very expensive car, I drive my Opel Cadet, and there is a gypsy on the street. We are all layers of the same reality. I also knew this film would work abroad as well.
ET: There is this gloomy feeling about the film, conditioned by winter time? Why was it important for you?
It was one of the most important aspects of the film, because I know that in the winter Belgrade is the most depressing, but also the cleanest, and I liked the clash of these two. I also wanted everything to be grey, without the sun.
ET: Would you, please, comment on life in modern Serbia? Is the past still affecting it?
SG: We still live in the shadow of the wars. During the 1990s we had three wars. In Belgrade we did not have an actual battle, but we had three months of bombing. It was not as bad as the war in Sarajevo or in Bosnia. In former Yugoslavia we lived well, but later all our processes were stopped, and now we are at the beginning, and Serbia's steps are very small. I want to see Serbia develop well and fast.
ET: How do you like the Toronto Film Festival this year?
SG: It is my second time at Toronto Film Festival, and I like it. The most important thing about this festival for me is that people in North America will be able to see the film. For me, selling the film is not the most important thing, but this is the only way people from around the world will be able to see the film, and that is the point of making it. I am making films for the audience. I am a storyteller for the audience, and for me the biggest success is not in the awards that I have received, but that we entered in many theatres in Europe, and I hope we will in North America as well.
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