Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Graphic
- gritty
- grotesque
- mournful
- historical cinema night
- serious film night
What critics said
Critics found the film visually confident and increasingly potent as an anti-war drama, while commonly faulting its sprawling structure and unconvincing central romance.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
The village's sexual exploitation and factional hostility merge with the mobilization of the invalids and the brutality of trench warfare.
The film uses sprawling village conflict, irreverent social behavior, and colorful visual excess in a tradition associated with Balkan cinema.
The central social conflict explicitly pits disabled veterans of earlier Balkan wars against newly enlisted young men.
The relationship among policeman Đorđe, his wife Katarina, and invalid Aleksa develops amid mobilization and the village's sexual abuses.
Films like St. George Shoots the Dragon, and why
Underground
balkan war drama with grotesque communal conflict, anti-war themes, and colorful visual excess
Pretty Village, Pretty Flame
serbian war drama combining village tensions, trench warfare brutality, and darkly comic grotesquerie
No Man's Land
period anti-war drama centered on divided communities, compromised masculinity, and mournful battlefield violence
Movie Details
- Director
- Srđan Dragojević
- Release Date
- 2009-03-11
- Runtime
- 120 min
- Rating
- 5.7 / 10 (16)
Cast
- Lazar Ristovski
- Nataša Janjić Medančić
- Borivoje Todorović
- Predrag Vasić
- Zoran Cvijanović
- Boris Milivojević
- Milena Dravić
- Branislav Lečić
- Srđan Miletić
- Milutin Milošević
Common questions
- What is St. George Shoots the Dragon about?
- A Serbian border village’s buried resentments and sexual betrayals are violently absorbed into the opening catastrophe of World War I.
- What is St. George Shoots the Dragon like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of St. George Shoots the Dragon as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is St. George Shoots the Dragon violent?
- Yes. Ember rates the violence in St. George Shoots the Dragon as graphic.
- What did critics think of St. George Shoots the Dragon?
- Critics found the film visually confident and increasingly potent as an anti-war drama, while commonly faulting its sprawling structure and unconvincing central romance.
- Which films are like St. George Shoots the Dragon?
- Films with a similar feel include Underground, Pretty Village, Pretty Flame, and No Man's Land.
- How long is St. George Shoots the Dragon?
- St. George Shoots the Dragon runs 120 minutes.
