The Trap (2007) User Reviews (25)

Intense and painful

[LazySod · 9/10 · 11 April 2008]

A family of three learns that its kid is suffering from a heart problem that is gradually getting worse. The kid will die if he isn't operated on but the operation is expensive and the insurance won't pay for it. How far will the parents go to get the money? As the film starts the three lead characters get introduced - mother, father and not to forget, the kid. At the same time it is shown that the kid is ill and is getting worse and the effect of that on the family is made clear. It's unnecessary to say that there is a level of stress in the relationship as both parents face the fact that they do not have the money to save their kid. And it is this stress and the way it is portrayed that makes this film so strong. As the film rolls on and the effects get worse and worse the portraying of it stays true and all the characters are believable.

As it moves to the point where action is taken it is clear why it is done and also clear where it will end, but this level of predictability isn't bad for it only answers a question that could have been answered even before the film started.

As it moves towards its end it is clear that it will linger on the mind for some time after the ending credits roll by - the effects used are strong like that.

9 out of 10 disturbing ways of solving a problem.

great film from Serbia

[billcr12 · 9/10 · 6 April 2008]

wow! just watched "the trap" or "klopka" which is the Serbian title for this film & i hope that it is eligible for next year's academy award for foreign language category. i was riveted from beginning to end by the story which really makes you think of the value of human life & what we are all worth in this world. at one point a character even mentions 911 & the way in which the u.s. government placed different monetary values on people depending on how much money the made when they were alive & working. the acting is superb throughout from the mother & father to the kid who is the main character of the story. this is definitely a movie for people who like to think & feel real human emotion; and not for anyone looking for car chases & mindless entertainment. please see this great film.

Trapped

[kosmasp · 8/10 · 27 January 2008]

Another exhibition, that you don't need big bucks or have to shoot your movie in another country, if yours isn't financially wealthy ... Klopka (The Trap as it is called internationally) is a fine example of good Serbian cinema.

If the definition of "film noir" is indeed "low-key lighting, a bleak urban setting, and corrupt, cynical characters" (as indicated in an urban dictionary), than this hits the mark! (maybe the cynical part isn't exactly on the spot or let's say Bogart-like, but other than that, you got yourself a winner here). The good thing about this description is, that this should be enough for you to judge, if you want to see the movie or not! :o)

Superb

[scratonp · 10/10 · 18 February 2007]

We went to the showing of Klopka at the Berlinale without any info or knowledge of the film...basically it was the only one we could get tickets for on a night when we could find a babysitter.

Anyway, we arrived with no preconceptions and the film was simply brilliant. The story was thoughtful without being pretentious, the acting was superb, and the little nods to Serbian society (and how that reflects on the rest of us as well) were thought-provoking without being in your face. Hopefully everyone will have the chance to see this movie, but I guess not...if you do, don't miss it...and congratulations to the people behind it for a wonderful achievement.

A jewel of a film: the kind that comes perhaps once a year

[katchita · 10/10 · 13 February 2007]

Every serious moviegoer enters each theater with the hope that this film will be that little gem that one can expect at most once a year (and some years it doesn't happen at all). This film is that little jewel; I was lucky enough to see it at its premier in the Berlinale. It asks the question, "what is a good man"? Can a man be good in some parts of his life and not at all good in others? In life, who becomes the ultimate arbiter of goodness? The film also introduces an interesting tension around traditional gender roles -- the husband/father expected to be the provider -- even while portraying seemingly modern women. This tension is an important driving force, in addition to the difficult challenge facing the main character. The resulting violence that occurs is at once completely believable and yet shocking; seemingly ancillary to the main plot is one scene of senseless violence against a street child that is quite breath-taking. There is a great symmetry to this movie, centering around a particular street corner on which that child hustles as a window-washer. We return to this place again and again, at different times and in different psychological states. Overall this film is masterfully crafted and acted with complex layers and much to reflect upon. I recommend it in the highest terms.

Excellent, very touching in non-pretentious way

[daveadams25 · 10/10 · 23 November 2007]

I gave mark 10/10 to this movie. Maybe the reason is that, lately, since "Sideways" actually, I haven't seen any movie that would touch me at all. And I watch a lot of movies. This one provoked tears many times, it's overwhelming on so easy, non-pretentious way.

Let's back to the subject. The story is very true, complex, convincing. Acting brilliant. Although the movie is a bit slow, it attracts like a magnet, so you can not keep an eye out of it. There are maybe some strange coincidences, but they do not spoil anything. Sunspense and thriller is present all the time.

It raises many questions: "What would I do if I were him", "What is the limit of my love to my child"... Great psychological dilemma, makes you think all the time. It is true European movie, with some American influence, but only on a good way. If you like, at least for a moment, to escape from Hollywood crap, I recommend this movie 100%.

A Great Film

[joelhberg · 10/10 · 5 January 2008]

While on line for a film on the opening day (yesterday) of the 2008 Palm Springs International Film Festival, a woman (former film professor) I knew from the previous year's Festival, raved about seeing "The Trap."

This morning I saw "The Trap" and was overwhelmed by it. Without question the most riveting film I have EVER seen. The director has perfect pitch: the story, direction, acting, photography, music are truly perfect. It's a tense thriller which addresses many moral questions. In many ways it reminds me of last year's "The Lives of Others." If you liked that movie, this one should definitely be on your must-see list.

The audience was stunned at the end of the film and after a flurry of applause, sat silently throughout the end credits.

The snowball of 2001

[fablesofthereconstru-1 · 7/10 · 23 April 2009]

The woman had never bothered to introduce herself. Late in "Klopka", Mladen(Nebojsa Glogovac) learns from his wife that the unconscious woman whose life he saved by rushing her to the emergency room, gave the name Jelena(Anica Dobra) over the phone. This anonymity comes as a shock to the viewer since the recently widowed mother of a young girl seemingly conveyed an impression of friendliness towards Mladen, just like the day they first met outside their children's school. In retrospect, though, after learning exactly how disparate the two families are class-wise in the newly democratized Serbia, Jelena's niceness gains an opaqueness, an edge. After Nemanja misreads Isidora's instigation of a snowball fight as a friendly overture, he offers the girl his gloves to alleviate the coldness in her hands. When she snatches them away, Jelena explains the girl's bratty behavior as a symptom of her husband overindulging their child. For good measure, once their ride arrives, Isidora throws the gloves on the ground, then throws a snowball in the boy's face. Nemanja looks hurt and confused; he's slackjawed, as the snow clings to his face, humiliated by the girl's lack of grace. Through all of this, Jelena never corrects her daughter's insolent boorishness. Needless to say, the husband doesn't drive a Renault. Men like Jelena's husband stopped driving inferior cars after privatization became Serbian law in 2001, setting up a situation of class warfare that "Klopka" dramatizes with great complexity, almost as an afterthought.

Due to rising medical costs, Mladen finds himself in the absurd position of accepting a contract killing job, when a man named Kosta(Miki Manojilovic) responds to the newspaper ad for Nemanja's condition which Marija(Natasa Ninkovic) placed over her husband's steady protestations. The target, in a "Crash"-like coincidence, turns out to be Jelena's husband. More than a contract killer, the father acts as his son's vigilante, in which Ivkovich's assassination outside his home bears an unmistakable subtext of working class retribution against the elitist mindset of the nouveau rich that had given Isidora the agency to treat Mladen's son like a nothing without apology. This subtext of vigilantism becomes more readily apparent in later scenes where both husband and wife vent their frustrations against the new Serbia, where a picture frame, Marija learns, is worth more than a child's life. Clearly, "Klonka" implicitly endorses a return to socialism, as the film itself is a rally cry against the consumer culture of a democratic government which values things over people. Clearly, the parents are suffering from culture shock. The disdainful manner in which Ivkovich(Dejan Cukic) approaches Mladen becomes the film's main motif. Although Mladen aims a gun at Ivkovich's chest, the proletarian man isn't taken seriously(just like the cops who don't believe his confession, nor Kosta who asks for a cup of coffee at gunpoint). "I'm gonna kick your a**," are Ivkovich's last words before he's riddled with bullets.

The snowball that Isidora had thrown at Nemanja just keeps getting bigger(there's no doubt that the snowball is a metaphor for Serbia's growing pains with the newly-installed democratic government). In the film's most intriguing scene, what are we to make of Mladen's expression after Jelena tells him, "That money isn't much for me, and it would solve everything for you," when she offers to pay for Nemanja's operation. Does he pick up on her condescending tone, even though he's still racked with guilt? Does he equate Jelena with the rich clubhopper, whose car window he smashes in with a rock? While the snowball is the inevitable cause of Mladen's death, the child redeems herself during a pointed scene at the hospital, in which the egalitarian ways of socialism makes a brief comeback, when the bourgeoisie girl shares her earphone with the proletarian man, as they sit side-by-side in the hospital waiting room. That small gesture is the heart of "Klopka", in a film that quietly endorses anarchy.

Simply a masterpiece

[baituraza · 10/10 · 28 April 2008]

If you are looking for a date movie then it is not a good choice but if you are looking something with a serious, really appealing with true to life events and a strong grip on audience throughout the movie, then simply go for it. I promise it is a collection grade movie worth to be watched twice. The story, acting, direction and movement of the movie was superb. Cinematography and the expression of human behavior was so realistic that you can not leave your seat even if you have a strong desire to go to rest room. Therefore I would say it was overall a masterpiece and needs to be placed in your personal collection shelf. Give it a try you will not be disappointed.

This movie is a ''movie''

[sarabubasara · 7/10 · 24 February 2007]

Today, when its a time of silly Serbian movies, there is a little hope that you will see a Serbian movie and say that this movie you CAN compare with other American movies.It doesn't have to be good or bad. I saw Klopka on Fest.I was expecting a good movie.Finally good Serbian movie!I got it.Cast is very promising:Nebojsa Glogovac(who is very good in this movie),Natasa Ninkovic(also very good in this movie),Anica Dobra(good)and Miki Manojlovic.Directing is not bad by director of Apsolutnih Sto(Absolute Hundred)Srdan Golubovic but he does some mistakes in it.Vuk Kostic disappointed a little bit but he is OK.Kids are just fantastic!

There are some jokes which are not created for this movie(when Mladen is in the bank)and some excellent solutions(when a girl gives Mladen headphone to listen the music).Movie is little bit slow and without charisma but, what can I say: It is a serious Serbian movie.

An Intense Psychological Thriller From The Balkans

[Seamus2829 · 10/10 · 19 October 2008]

This is yet,another tale of parental love & what they will do for the lives of their children. A 30 something couple finds out that their young son is suffering from a heart condition, and the only place that they can bring him for the surgery that can save his life is in Germany. The hitch:the price tag (we're talking thousands & thousands of Euros). The Mother puts an advert in the local newspaper that they need money for the operation. The hope comes in the form of a stranger who will give them the thirty thousand Euros they need,but with a price. The father must assassinate somebody. What follows is a taut, intense morality play with a twist. This is European film making at it's best. No MPAA rating here, but serves up lots of foul language & some violence (although nothing too gory for those with weak stomachs)

You have to see it through the eyes of transitional society...

[tomaas-ekkerr · 7/10 · 9 April 2008]

You have to see it through the eyes of transitional society. I guess than, that people from Eastern Europe and Soviet Union don't need this description of "what's going on during post-communism"...

For me "Klopka" represents great acted documentary, rather than piece of art...

Belgrade is like any other capitol (with over 1,000,000 people) in this world, so the mentality is pretty much the same. You have a lot of problems, a lot of noise, pollution, anger, etc. going on, and all that is speed-ed up with fast forward, which doesn't mean that you can't enjoy other landmarks of the city. Also every large city has ghetto, but in this city it spreads from entrance till the exit, covering 90-95% of the territory. That is life in the transition. A group of people holds fortune, for others there are small paychecks, joblessness, bad surrounding, gangs, etc. all in all, big concrete jungle, and since heart pumps blood, the things are pretty much the same in the rest of the country...

In this movie we see an "average" (or if I can call it "middle class") family struggling from day to day, or how we like to call it "surviving till tomorrow". Life is almost exactly the same in every other Serbian family. So each day brings new problems, but this day a big problem knocked on you door and said "Your kid has heart problem, it's serious, he can die any time soon... he's going to need a heart surgery". Surgery usually costs a lot, but in this country, it can't be done, and you haven't earn that much money in the past 5-10 years... facts are facts, get ready, go... what are you going to do? It's all about life value/price, love for your family, love for your child, depression, anger, betrayal, sadness, and everyday transitional life. Crossroads and dead ends everywhere you go, no matter what you do, and you don't have enough time to think about it at all, you must go with the flow... sadly, that's the true face of Serbian reality, and yes!!! the transition is not a boundary, it can happen to me, you, anybody else... the question is how you gonna deal with that?

Not good enough for me

[bebara · 3/10 · 24 February 2007]

I think there is a big problem with this film because it is so much imitating American films. And not just those. A little of everything the director likes. Acting is very bad and unconvincing. I was very disappointed. So many shots that don't carry none significance at all. It seems like they tried everything. Such a subject, such a psychological subject and they gave more attention to shots and none to relations and emotions. I wrote a message on a message board about this film. I really don't believe that this film is good just because it looks like it's from USA. Yes it's a big subject, Balzac and Dostoyevski wrote about it long before we were all born, but it was done so weakly. The whole cinema laughed at loud when an actor called Manda appeared on the screen, even tough it was not supposed to be funny. That is not good for the film. I mean there are two parents who are in a situation worst for any parent, and two of them are acting so weak. That's a director's mistake.

Utterly amazing and horrifying

[[e-mail] · 10/10 · 26 September 2009]

You must see this film. Utterly and totally amazing. A perfect film, matched only by Body Heat and Fargo for its merciless exploration of the phenomena of criminality. The plot is so tight you can't put a razor blade between its uncemented blocks. The protagonist is trapped on the horns of terrible a dilemma, and does the only thing he can do in the situation. His choice is utterly believable and utterly horrifying. The consequences equally so. The ending is as inevitable as it is appropriate and yet I wish it weren't. But, like everything else in this film, it is as it must be. But the worst thing of all is that it could happen to any one of the tens of millions of equally vulnerable citizens of the great Uninsured States of America just as easily as in a Second World backwater like Serbia. Now that's really horrifying!

Terrible truth

[petars6 · 10/10 · 18 January 2008]

The movie is very heavy,but also the very truth.Couple with ordinary jobs need money for the surgery,but in the land of transition that is a lot of money.What would You do if you was in that situation? Humanity in us told us that we should do anything for lives of our families!The pain of life when we are in problems,the way of thinking when you end up in the corner without way out!!! I would recommend this movie to all people,so they can see how life can change in a part of a second!One second you are very happy,next one you rushing for money to stop the misery.Now a days that is a awfully truth in the countries on "The Balkan" (Serbia,Montenegro,Bosnia,Croatia,Macedonia)!!

Highly recommended

[goca-63575 · 10/10 · 5 February 2021]

One of the best movie I have seen. Usually I can predict what is going to happen in every movie but that was not the case with this movie. Very good!

Reality comes very painful

[vuks-53375 · 10/10 · 2 October 2019]

Most realistic movie in state like Serbia. Glogovac is one of the best actors in Serbia. Sad and painful but very nice scenography.

The Trap : 2007

[cinish · 7/10 · 17 September 2012]

I had watched the movie yesterday evening and I still clearly remember the father's face and his misery. He has done excellent acting.

The movie feels very realistic. The closeness of the family is well built-up.

The situation that the family finds itself in is unfortunately very real. Life can present tough challenges that do not have a method to solve.And there are moments where the situation overwhelms you and there are moments when the protagonists are composed in spite of the challenges.The movie honestly captures both kinds of moments.

The movie has excellent emotional content. The director has shown mastery at presenting tension.There are silent shots which convey so much about the situation.

The plot is not a filmy unreal plot - there are aspects that add and take away some of the perfect Hollywood style smartness and instead presents the weaknesses that real life harbors.The man who sets the trap is himself weak as the story reveals.

The wife has acted well - very convincing. The wife is in a story thread, unaware of the thread her husband is trapped in and this dichotomy is presented well and the credit goes to the wife's acting.

The husband is the one who won my heart. The sincere person that he is all through the movie is remarkable. Though forced into a mistake, he tries to do the right thing as he says and he takes it all the way. Sometimes you like a movie because you like the main protagonist in the movie - this protagonist is one such.

The way the story line is structured reminded me of Hawaii,Oslo where just a little portion of the story happens in the current where as most of the story happens in a flashback.

The only thing that was not convincing to me was the way the husband takes up the task with very inadequate payment.

What would you do to save the life of your child?

[nsvrzikapa · 9/10 · 2 September 2013]

A cornered father with no ability to finance an expensive heart surgery for his dying son commits an unspeakable sin to save his son's life. The film explores the phenomenon of putting a value on life and how that value, as priceless as we may perceive life to be, can be expressed in some currency. It also addresses the issues of social inequality and addresses a very real problem with health care in Serbia. Having grown up in the region I can tell you that advertising in the newspapers in search for hope in a foreign hospital is very common. For a family that may only have an income of only a couple of hundred EU per month coming up with the sums required by these foreign hospitals is practically impossible. While people show solidarity and always try to help even when they don't have money, often this help comes too late. This is why the proposition the father gets and the whole story became more believable for me. Vindication is perhaps not a possibility, but could you find another way for him to save his son? After all, what's the value of the life of a "bad" man compared to the one of your innocent child. Ultimately, all parties have different ideas about the value of the lives of Peter or Nemanja, but we are left with the taste of sacrifice, atonement and the fact that some problems simply have no good solution.

Serious Movie for Adults / good view Serbia

[rome1-595-390251 · 8/10 · 14 August 2014]

A classic dark story. A father has a sick child who needs an operation he cannot afford---someone offers him the money needed if he commits a murder.

This was a serious film for adults...5 stars. I watched it mostly to find more out about Serbia. The cinematography is good. Another couple stars.

Some flaws: I found the kid somewhat obnoxious.

Also found it a little hard to believe that the Father would go to the funeral of the murdered man...he had to be consumed with guilt and more than that fearful. It is about the last thing you would expect a normal average person to do. Then he gets to know the murdered mans wife even more unbelievable. However the man who arranged the murder was totally believable.

In addition you get a look at various struggles in post Yugoslav Serbia --without it being too heavy handed. People are unemployed companies stripped of assets...with a parallel prosperity for unscrupulous criminal types with gaudy houses.

RECOMMEND

No room to breathe

[ruhi-yaman · 5/10 · 12 April 2008]

Klopka is a suffocating film, so dense in moral righteousness, it defies criticism. It is a lot like the post-Milosevic Serbia (morose, self-pitying and self-important) but not for the reasons its makers would like us to think. The story is presented as a mirror to modern Serbia, but it is very unoriginal, sharing a similar structure with numerous European films: A decent, if somewhat hapless, man agrees to kill a stranger to earn the money that will pay for the operation to save his only child's life. To say anything else would be to spoil the movie, although the plot moves along with unnecessary predictability and contrivance. The actors are highly competent, but they are not given much room to inject any ambiguity into their characters. Only Miki Manojlovic's performance lifts the film from its manufactured faux-noir ordinariness. As the vacuous, soulless Milos, he is the only character that can be considered unique to modern Serbia.

Srdan Golubovic is a promising director. Nearly each shot in the film can be blown up as a still photograph and displayed in an exhibition. He is in control – perhaps excessively so… Ultimately, the film collapses under its own relentless depression. We are not free to question as to how a professional couple leading modest and frugal lives without any debt burden cannot raise 26,000 Euros. Certainly, it is not because they splash on fashion. (Nebosja Glogovac as Mladen wears a couple of tattered gray tops throughout the film. Much is made of his 30-year old Renault.) If you don't know any better, you'd come out of cinema thinking that this could happen only in Serbia and society is to blame. The truth is that Serbia's poor is much better off than those of the United States. At least there is a public health system in Serbia that works – mostly… It is a pity. Because one scene in the film is so fraught with genuine suspense, it leaves the viewer wondering what a better film Klopka would have been if the filmmakers left some of their melancholy at home before coming to the set.

Best Serbian Drama-Thriller

[ShikiPA · 9/10 · 18 September 2018]

This is the best Serbian drama-thriller movie ever made. "The Trap" is full of tense and stress scenes because Mladen (Glogovac) and Marija (Natasa) do not have money for the heart operation of their son. It describes a real life situation because every month in Serbia there is a kid who needs urgent operation and his parents do not have the necessary money. Nebojsa Glogovac, who was the most talented and best actor of his generation in Serbia, played the role of his life in "The Trap"(Klopka).

Seriously Lacklustre

[Amyth47 · 3/10 · 1 October 2018]

My Rating : 3/10

Starts off fine and then leaves a huge disappointment. I do not recommend this movie. Has a good premise but unfortunately doesn't deliver.

Some viewers have undoubtedly loved this however I simply stopped caring half way through. 3/10.

a low budget "John q "

[johntheholder · 5/10 · 28 November 2014]

I am into indie films as mainstream ones.Don't get me too wrong.

That said , Klopka surely is in indie low budget picture. Mind the " picture " though ...

And here lies a question ? Does the quality of the practical , literal picture , frame by frame / photography matter? Does it affect the overall impression and judgement of whether a film is good or bad?

For example if one takes a certain story , a particular script , will the film be better if you put in a good cinematography , and worse if you put in a -not so good- cinematography.

In my humble opinion , it certainly does. After all , lets all say it once more .. IT IS A VISUAL EXPERIENCE.

And so goes down the drain Klopka... Each scene is filmed with a camera. I can say that much. About lighting , scene decoration , vibrant , intense colors and such , there are none.

They did shoot the film , you can watch it. Its just that throughout the whole thing , you are thinking its your buddy filming with his home-camera.

And it doesn't add the realistic vibe. Its just bad lights , bad photography , nothing to do with realism.

So thats one.

Two , even if this film had great mainstream photography like a Nolan's film or an Alfonso Cuaron's one , the story isn't good itself.

Like i mentioned , its Denzel Washington's "John Q" (2002) that is 5 years earlier ... its the same story , just with a worse photography , and switch the famous actors for unknown Serbian ones.

It doesn't offer new insight in the topic. Desperate father has a sick son with a defective heart - goes bad to get the money for the operation.

It has some weak improbable points too.

This section contains SPOILERS! ----------------------------------------------------

For example after confessing the murder to the police , they let him go , showing that the mafia guy has the police boss on his side. Well combining this fact, and then having the mafia guy being broke and owing money with his house almost in ruins ... i wonder , how the hell does he still have the police on his side? -----------------------------------------------------

End of SPOILERS!

I read good comments over here , and someone did a comparison of this film to the German " The lives of others" . So me , having firm respect for the lives of others , was convinced to see this with an open mind but slightly high expectations , because believe it or not , i am into foreign gems , Korean cinema , french , Italian , Belgian whatever...

Well i saw this thing and this is the review. Nothing special , i give it a 5/10 because of the bad photography and strongly because its a story that was made better in a film five years earlier.

To be fair , the actors were alright. Nothing great , but nothing bad. It was decent acting.

way too overrated

[rinakarinaka · 2/10 · 15 March 2020]

Don't have anything to add. It is a dull, contrived movie. Skip it.