Ljudozder vegetarijanac (2012) Reviews

• Bad Medicine

  billcr122012-09-21

  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.

• Best Croatian movie in 2012

  rejotl2012-09-19

  Movie is great but I assume Croats will like it the best. It relies mostly on great performance of all actors, especially Rene B. There is no happy end, psycho doctor keeps on going. That is probably one of the reasons people do not like it, witch is different from the book where he is locked up in a cell. Interesting fact is that movie is about corrupt Doctor and corruption in Hospitals but there was no reaction from representative body in Croatia. The script author was also doctor but resigned after the movie went live, very interesting. If you have any connection to Balkans film is as "Metastaze" a must see, others maybe can pass.

• gynecologist from hell

  RogerB-P3RV32012-09-19

  It's all Rene Bitorajac show in a smirking performance as Danko Babic. A ruthless, ambitious and unscrupulous gynecologist who will do anything to get to the top of his profession including accepting bribery from patients and sabotaging other doctors reputation through mischievous methods. He is in bed with corrupt cops and local thugs to falsify medical conditions just for the money. Like the famous Madonna song, Danko is a material guy and he is living in a material world. But the sh*t is about to hit the fan for the good doctor when the chicken come home to roost in shape of sloppy malpractices and investigation into his conduct by both the clinic and later the police. In particular when he starts performing dangerous abortions on sex workers owned by a dangerous criminal. But does Danka even care about the consequences or feel remorse at all? The answer is left to the viewers to decide. Paints an unflattering view of Croatian professionals in general. Doctors are depicted as either corrupt or inconsiderate folks worrying more about lawsuits than about the patient. Nurses are portrayed as equal opportunist though it's more of a unrequited love in case of Babic's loyal assistant Lana (talented Natasa Janjic in a thankless role). Disgusting jokes and racial taunts seems to be the norm. The less said about the police the better. It seems Branko Schmidt (writer/director) is using the character of Danko as some sort of a template…a mirror of Croatian crumbling moral values amid self-serving greed. The nobility of the titular profession is tainted by Danko's employing his abilities as a gynecologist for reprehensible purposes. Unique resolution will divide viewers. The gory and surgical procedure segments are mostly implied. That actually makes it tougher to watch more so if you're pro-life.

• American psycho Croatian way

  bloodlust682012-09-13

  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.

• Bad side of Croatian medicine

  imariczadar2014-08-05

  Cannibal Vegetarian is the second movie that was created based on the book of well-known Croatian writer Ivo Balenovic. The first movie, which was created based on the books Metastases earned the title of one of the best modern Croatian movies. I expected this movie will repeat or at least closer to such a success, but I remained disappointed. The story is fragmented, with no real flow. The main actor Rene Bitorajac, does not look convincing in the role of problematic of real ending, a climax. The only positive surprise in the movie is soundtrack. All in all, watchable if you are interested in Croatian movies. The book is far better.