It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

SKINNING is a cheap-as-chips skinhead drama from Serbia, of all places. Like most skinhead and Neo-Nazi films out there, the protagonist is a youthful innocent who gets drawn into a skinhead crowd and thus a world of violence and hatred. If you like this type of story, I'd recommend checking out the likes of THIS IS ENGLAND instead, as this film won't satisfy. It's cheap and grubby, much like AMERICAN HISTORY X but without the characterisation or depth.

Skinning is a movie about skinheads in Serbia. Even if you haven't been acquainted with skinhead subculture or Serbia it quickly becomes apparent that the authors took a lot of liberties which, in turn, were necessary to create a feature film interesting to broader audience.In this sense, Skinning is a work of fiction although it borrows heavily from reality. It tells a bleak story about rough young people. As it usually is the case, soon the politicians and secret service step in to manipulate them. What i particularly liked is that Skinning never became vulgar nor sought undeserved attention by explicit scenes of sex and violence.Eventually, the actress who caught my attention was Bojana Novakovic. You might also see her deliver an excellent performance in Burning Man (2011) playing next to Matthew Goode.

OK I'm guessing that in Serbia this film is quite intense and serious but i'm from England and the English dubbing/voice acting that came with the DVD was very very bad to say the least. It didn't suit the characters or what they were saying to the point it became very funny. Imagine a really intense skinhead film with strong graphic violence with a load of cockney cab drivers doing the voice acting? Very funny. For a low budget film though it has got everything a Neo-Nazi film should have it has good character development, strong violence and an enjoyable plot.. Looking past the dubbing it looked really serious which i'm guessing only a Serbian would find thrilling but in my opinion it was just funny but it entertained me enough to watch until the end.

Some words ahead: If you've never heard from Serbia or have no idea what it is or where it is, your impression of this film will probably be lower. Too many things you need to know prior to understanding all terms used, and to be honest: Who knows the political situation of Serbia then and now? Well, I was lucky enough to have at least a rudimentary knowledge of that so I didn't have to scratch my head the whole time :-)If you leave that aside, you have a solid, dense, exciting and - for that sub-genre (skin-hooligan-drama or whatever you'd call it) - a few quite(!) novel ideas. The acting is - in my humble opinion - very good, the characters are all believable, the story is interesting although a bit short and therefore compressed, but overall very good. All characters are, if not likable, then at least understandable in their actions, which is vital for a drama to work. An open minded viewer assumed, but I guess you're not reading this if you're seeking for another comedy.For a laughable (nowadays *sigh*) budget of 500k it's an excellent work. Hollywood doesn't even manage to release a believable porn-movie with that budget ,-)Also I really liked that no side is taken in a shallow way. You get hit in the face by the quite decent brutality (think of the budget!), the social background and the political system (isn't it the same everywhere anyway?). The placing of real footage for less subtle shocking reasons was well placed and fit well.This was my second Serbian film. The first one being "a Serbian film" I didn't knew if I could expect anything decent. But "Skinning" has class and is a totally serious drama. I would say that I liked this one the most of all these skin/Nazi/hooligan-flicks like "Romper Stomper" or even "Hooligans" or the lesser known works.I usually don't write reviews, but I saw this one hasn't any but it deserves at least one good because of it's comparably low voting. Judge for yourself! If you enjoyed "Hooligans" or anything like that, you'll enjoy this one too. Well at least in the same way you could "enjoy" war-movies, you know what I mean.For your better valuing of this review: I'm German, male, around 40, seen thousands (literally) of movies, like most genres (instead of romance, sport and most comedy) and am getting more demanding in a cinematographically way every year :)And before I forget: If you're into violence but cannot stand naked people: There is at least one quite graphic sex-scene. So maybe skip that one :-)From me, a solid 7,5 with a tendency upwards.