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{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2014}}
{{Infobox film
|name = The Weight of Chains
|image = The_Weight_of_Chains.jpg
|caption = Official poster
|director = [[Boris Malagurski]]
| producer       = Boris Malagurski
| screenplay     = Boris Malagurski
|starring = [[Michel Chossudovsky]]<br />[[Lewis MacKenzie]]<br />[[Vlade Divac]]<br />[[John Perkins (author)|John Perkins]]<br />[[Michael Parenti]]<br />[[Scott Taylor (journalist)|Scott Taylor]]<br />[[Jože Mencinger]]<br />[[James Byron Bissett|James Bissett]]<br />John Bosnitch<br />[[Branislav Lečić]]<br />[[Škabo]]<br />[[Srđa Trifković]]<br />[[Slobodan Samardžić]]
|music = Novo Sekulović<br />Jasna Đuran<br />Kevin Macleod
|editing = Boris Malagurski<br />[[Anastasia Trofimova]]<br />Marko Janković
| studio         = [[Malagurski Cinema]]
|distributor = Journeyman Pictures (Worldwide)
|released = {{Film date|2010|12|17|Australia|2011|2|19|Canada}}
|runtime = 124 minutes
|country = Canada
|language = English, Serbian
| budget         = $21,850
}}
'''''The Weight of Chains''''' is a 2010 Canadian [[documentary film]] directed by [[Boris Malagurski]].<ref name="politika">[http://www.politika.rs/rubrike/Kultura/Dobri-ljudi-u-zlim-vremenima.sr.html Culture: "Good people in evil times"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924125935/http://www.politika.rs/rubrike/Kultura/Dobri-ljudi-u-zlim-vremenima.sr.html |date=September 24, 2015 }} Politika Newspaper | August 28, 2010</ref> The film argues that the [[breakup of Yugoslavia]] was "orchestrated by Western powers in furtherance of imperial ambitions".<ref name="Miller review">{{cite web | url=http://www.worldsocialism.org/spgb/socialist-standard/2010s/2014/no-1313-january-2014/nationalism-and-destruction-balkans | title=Nationalism and Destruction in the Balkans | publisher=[[Socialist Standard]]. | date=January 2014 | accessdate=3 October 2014 | author=Miller, Tristan. | archive-date=October 6, 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006065811/http://www.worldsocialism.org/spgb/socialist-standard/2010s/2014/no-1313-january-2014/nationalism-and-destruction-balkans | url-status=live }}</ref> According to the filmmaker, it also presents stories of "good people in evil times".<ref>[http://www.pressonline.rs/zabava/dzet-set/160324/novi-dokumentarac-srpskog-majkla-mura.html Novi dokumentarac srpskog Majkla Mura] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129203648/http://www.pressonline.rs/zabava/dzet-set/160324/novi-dokumentarac-srpskog-majkla-mura.html |date=November 29, 2014 }} PressOnline.rs</ref> It was released on December 17, 2010.

The sequel, ''[[The Weight of Chains 2]]'', was released on November 20, 2014,<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.montecasino.co.za/whatson/Events/Pages/Serbian_Film_Festival.aspx |title=The Serbian Film festival at Montecasino |access-date=November 25, 2014 |archive-date=November 3, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131103172752/http://www.montecasino.co.za/whatson/Events/Pages/Serbian_Film_Festival.aspx |url-status=dead }}</ref> while the last part of the trilogy, ''[[The Weight of Chains 3]]'', was released on September 28, 2019.{{citation needed|date=November 2020}}

==Production==
The film was sponsored by [[Serbian diaspora]] community organizations, the [[Centre for Research on Globalization]], and private individuals amongst others.<ref name="politika"/><ref>{{cite web|title=Weight of Chains – Sponsors|url=http://www.weightofchains.ca/1/#sponsors|publisher=Malagurski Cinema|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130102211341/http://www.weightofchains.com/sponsors.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 2, 2013}}</ref><ref name="Okovi raspada bivše Jugoslavije">[http://www.vesti-online.com/Dijaspora/drzava/Kanada/Vesti/127741/Okovi-raspada-bivse-Jugoslavije Okovi raspada bivše Jugoslavije] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141106004305/http://www.vesti-online.com/Dijaspora/drzava/Kanada/Vesti/127741/Okovi-raspada-bivse-Jugoslavije |date=November 6, 2014 }} Vesti, April 1, 2011</ref>

The film uses re-compiled archival footage extensively,<ref name="nspm">{{cite web | url=http://www.nspm.rs/kulturna-politika/boris-malagurski-medju-nama-ili-gde-se-denu-184-milijarde-ju-eura.html?alphabet=l | title=Boris Malagurski među nama | publisher=[[Nova srpska politička misao|NSPM]] | accessdate=2 October 2014 | archive-date=October 6, 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006070705/http://www.nspm.rs/kulturna-politika/boris-malagurski-medju-nama-ili-gde-se-denu-184-milijarde-ju-eura.html?alphabet=l | url-status=live }}</ref> which was provided at no cost by [[Radio Television Serbia]].<ref name="MR Elich">{{cite web | url=https://mronline.org/2011/07/28/entangled-in-neocolonialism-the-weight-of-chains/ | title=Entangled in Neocolonialism | publisher=Monthly Review | work=Interview with Gregory Elich (interviewee in the film) | access-date=11 September 2014 | archive-date=September 16, 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140916163240/http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/2011/elich280711.html | url-status=live }}</ref>

==Synopsis==
The film provides a background history of [[Yugoslavia]], from the medieval [[Battle of Kosovo]] to the 1912 incorporation of [[Kosovo]] into the [[Kingdom of Serbia]] and then to the formation of [[Josip Broz Tito]]'s Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia after World War II. It discusses the persecution of [[Kosovo Serbs]] after World War II, as well as alleged plans by Nationalists to create an ethnically pure [[Greater Albania]].

The film claims that U.S. interests in Yugoslavia promoted "a market-oriented Yugoslav economic structure" through the [[National Endowment for Democracy]], and the [[G17 Plus]] as part of a policy of "privatization through liquidation" that increased ethnic tensions in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Western nations, both openly diplomatically and covertly militarily, supported separatist groups and encouraged conflict so that NATO could be installed as peacekeepers for their own interests. A cigarette factory that was [[1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia|bombed by NATO]] was later bought by [[Philip Morris USA|Philip Morris]], which the film presents as an example, that the purpose of the war was economic colonization of the country.

The film claims Yugoslavian leaders such as [[Slobodan Milošević]], [[Franjo Tuđman]] and [[Alija Izetbegović]] were focused only on power, and not on the well-being of their people and they, along with the local media, mobilized public opinion in favor of conflict. These tensions led to the 1990s [[Yugoslav Wars]], which culminated in the [[Kosovo war]].

The film presents the [[Srebrenica massacre|fall of Srebrenica]] "as a stage-managed ploy by the Bosnians and Americans to justify NATO military intervention against Serbia".<ref name="Miller review"/> 
Interviewee [[Srđa Trifković]] asserts that there are "trustworthy witnesses" who claim that [[Bill Clinton]] had indicated that "5,000 dead Muslims would be the price of NATO intervention" and that these witnesses believe that "Srebrenica was deliberately sacrificed by [[Alija Izetbegović|Izetbegović]] in order to provide this burnt offering to the [[White House]]". The film also presents the Srebrenica "civilian death toll as no larger than the number of Serbs killed in the surrounding area".<ref name="Miller review"/>

The film includes interviews with the widow of [[Josip Reihl-Kir]] (former police chief of [[Osijek]], Croatia) and the widow of [[Milan Levar]] along with the story of [[Srđan Aleksić]], who saved a [[Muslim]] man from an attack by soldiers of the [[Army of Republika Srpska|VRS]]. There is footage of the village [[Vrhbarje]] in Bosnia where [[Serbs]] and [[Bosniaks]] lived together up to the end of the [[Bosnian war]], but were then separated – as the Muslim Bosniaks, left for their own entity.

The film argues that, in the aftermath of the war, the policies of the [[International Monetary Fund]] and the [[World Bank]] further demonstrated that Eastern European states were not meant to be equals with the [[European Union]] and the West, but rather were only seen as markets for Western goods and sources of cheap labor. The film portrays an increase in the debt of the former Yugoslav countries by showing how much tax money each citizen of the former Yugoslavia would have to pay in order for their countries to be debt-free.

[[File:Beldocs weight of chains premiere.jpg|thumb| Malagurski's address at the [[Belgrade]] premiere of the film at the BELDOCS Film Festival at the [[Yugoslav Film Archive|Kinoteka]] theater in 2011]]

==Interviewees==
The interviewees in the film include:<ref name="Okovi raspada bivše Jugoslavije"/><ref>[http://www.pressonline.rs/sr/vesti/dzet_set_svet/story/160324/Novi+dokumentarac+srpskog+Majkla+Mura.html New documentary by the Serbian Michael Moore] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129024048/http://www.pressonline.rs/sr/vesti/dzet_set_svet/story/160324/Novi+dokumentarac+srpskog+Majkla+Mura.html |date=November 29, 2014 }} Press</ref><ref name="interviewees">{{cite web | url=http://weightofchains.ca/1/stars-of-the-film/ | title=The Interviewees | accessdate=29 August 2014 | archive-date=March 5, 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305101036/http://weightofchains.ca/1/stars-of-the-film/ | url-status=live }}</ref>
* Rade Aleksić — Whose son [[Srđan Aleksić]], lost his life while defending a [[Muslim]] friend - an [[Bosniaks|ethnic Bosniak]]<ref name="Srdjan Aleksic e-nov">{{cite web | url=http://www.e-novine.com/index.php?news=19575 | title=Epilogue about Srdjan Aleksic | publisher=[[E-novine]] | accessdate=1 October 2014 | archive-date=October 6, 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006092828/http://www.e-novine.com/index.php?news=19575 | url-status=live }}</ref> - who was being attacked by a group of soldiers of the [[Army of Republika Srpska|VRS]].
* [[James Byron Bissett|James Bissett]] — Former Canadian diplomat who served as ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to [[Yugoslavia]], [[Albania]], and [[Bulgaria]]. Defence witness for [[Trial of Slobodan Milošević|Slobodan Milošević]].<ref>{{cite web|title= Milošević calls ex-Canadian Ambassador|url= http://iwpr.net/report-news/milosevic-calls-ex-canadian-ambassador|publisher= IWPR|access-date= September 12, 2014|archive-date= October 6, 2014|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20141006131212/http://iwpr.net/report-news/milosevic-calls-ex-canadian-ambassador|url-status= live}}</ref>
* John Bosnitch — Canadian journalist of [[Serbs|Serbian]] descent, consultant and political activist.
* [[Michel Chossudovsky]] — Canadian economist and professor of economics at the [[University of Ottawa]].
* [[Vlade Divac]] — Retired [[Yugoslavia|Yugoslav]] as well as United States' [[National Basketball Association|NBA]] professional basketball player, humanitarian worker
* Blasko Gabric — Founder and 'President' of 'Fourth Yugoslavia', park located in [[Subotica]], Serbia <ref>{{cite news|title=Like the old Yugoslavia it recreates, theme park could go under|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/nation/2012/09/01/miniature-yugoslavia-verge-vanishing/7BRaUt6LNd4EqsVd6RNeQI/story.html|newspaper=Boston Globe|access-date=June 22, 2017|archive-date=March 7, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160307213826/https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/nation/2012/09/01/miniature-yugoslavia-verge-vanishing/7BRaUt6LNd4EqsVd6RNeQI/story.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[Branislav Lečić]] — Former Serbian minister of culture in the government of the late [[Zoran Đinđić]].
* [[Lewis MacKenzie]] — [[United Empire Loyalist|UE]], [[Order of Canada|CM]], [[Order of Military Merit (Canada)|CMM]], [[Meritorious Service Cross|MSC]], [[Order of Ontario|O.Ont]], [[Canadian Forces' Decoration|CD]], retired Canadian general, author and media [[Pundit (expert)|commentator]], established and commanded Sector [[Sarajevo]] as part of [[UNPROFOR]] in [[Yugoslavia]] in 1992.<ref name="interviewees"/>
* [[Veran Matić]] — chief executive officer of [[B92]].
* [[Jože Mencinger]] — Slovenian lawyer, economist, and politician who served as [[Minister of Economy]] of the [[Republic of Slovenia]] and the Slovenian vice president of government for economic coordination from 1990 to 1991.
* [[Michael Parenti]] — American political scientist, historian, and cultural critic.
* [[John Perkins (author)|John Perkins]] – Author, best known for his book ''[[Confessions of an Economic Hit Man]]''.
* [[Slobodan Samardžić]] — Serbian academic and politician, and the former minister for [[Kosovo]] in the [[Government of Serbia]].
* [[Škabo]] (Bosko Cirkovic) — [[Rapper]], beatmaker and producer from [[Belgrade]], [[Serbia]], who is also the founder of [[Beogradski Sindikat]].
* [[Scott Taylor (journalist)|Scott Taylor]] – Canadian journalist who specializes in military and war reporting.
* Zvonimir Trajkovic — Described on the film's website as:- Serbian political advisor to [[Slobodan Milošević]] (1990 – '93) and [[Radovan Karadžić]] ('94 – '97).<ref name="interviewees"/>
* [[Srđa Trifković]] — Serbian-American writer, foreign affairs editor for the [[paleoconservatism|paleoconservative]] magazine ''[[Chronicles (magazine)|Chronicles]]'' 1998–2009, and former unofficial spokesperson for the [[Republika Srpska]] government in 1995.<ref>{{cite web|title=Popović et al. CIS|url=http://www.icty.org/x/cases/popovic/cis/en/cis_popovic_al_en.pdf|publisher=ICTY|access-date=September 12, 2014|archive-date=May 31, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200531012113/https://www.icty.org/x/cases/popovic/cis/en/cis_popovic_al_en.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>  Defence witness for a number of convicted Serbian [[International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia|war criminals]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Popovic et al.-"Srebrenica"|url=http://www.sense-agency.com/sense.48.html?case_id=21&type=gallery&offset=8|publisher=SENSE Tribunal|access-date=September 12, 2014|archive-date=August 26, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140826113442/http://www.sense-agency.com/sense.48.html?case_id=21&type=gallery&offset=8|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Stakic-"Prijedor" |url=http://www.sense-agency.com/sense.48.html?case_id=84&type=gallery |publisher=SENSE Tribunal |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140826115514/http://www.sense-agency.com/sense.48.html?case_id=84&type=gallery |archive-date=August 26, 2014 }}</ref> 
* [[Visar Ymeri]] — [[Kosovo]] activist and politician.

==Release==
''The Weight of Chains'' was screened at the 2011 [[Beldocs|Beldocs International Documentary Film Festival]], [[Belgrade]], [[Serbia]]<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20110503220707/http://www.beldocs.rs/filmovi.php?selection=view&id=78 Težina lanaca: Kritika uloge NATO, EU i SAD i raspadu SFRJ] BELDOCS 2011</ref> and, as part of the 2011 ''Beldocs eho'' Documentary Film Festival, in [[Novi Sad]],<ref>[http://www.021.rs/Vodic/Festivali/Festival-dokumentarnog-filma-u-KCNS.html Festival of documentary film at Novi Sad Cultural Centre] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141105030923/http://www.021.rs/Vodic/Festivali/Festival-dokumentarnog-filma-u-KCNS.html |date=November 5, 2014 }} 021.rs</ref><ref>[http://www.rtv.rs/sr_lat/kultura/film-tezina-lanaca-u-kcns_255041.html The Weight of Chains in Novi Sad] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141105055226/http://www.rtv.rs/sr_lat/kultura/film-tezina-lanaca-u-kcns_255041.html |date=November 5, 2014 }} Radio Television Vojvodina</ref> [[Zrenjanin]], [[Kragujevac]], [[Niš]], [[Vršac]] and [[Aleksinac]],<ref name="beldocs on tour">[https://web.archive.org/web/20110529115008/http://www.b92.net/kultura/vesti.php?nav_category=268&yyyy=2011&mm=05&nav_id=513422 "BELDOCS" on a tour throughout Serbia] B92.net</ref> in Serbia. It was also screened in [[London]], England as part of the ''Balkan Cinema Strand'' at the [[Raindance Film Festival|''Raindance'' Film Festival 2011]],<ref>[https://www.raindance.org/site/Balkan-cinema-at-Raindance-2011] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20140819181710/https://www.raindance.org/site/Balkan-cinema-at-Raindance-2011|date=August 19, 2014}} Raindance Balkan Cinema Strand 2011</ref> at the 2011 ''Moving Image'' Film Festival 2011 in [[Toronto]], Canada,<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20111221012446/http://www.miffest.com/EventsScheduling.html] MIFF Schedule, End of World Showcase</ref> at the ''International Festival of New Latin American Cinema'' in [[Havana]], [[Cuba]],<ref>[http://www.habanafilmfestival.com/sidemenu/index.php?rcdid=215 "El peso de las cadenas"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120404163604/http://www.habanafilmfestival.com/sidemenu/index.php?rcdid=215 |date=April 4, 2012 }} Festival Internacional Del Nuevo Cine Latinoamericano</ref> and at the Balkan New Film Festival in [[Oslo]], [[Norway]].<ref>[http://baneff.com/films-and-cities/ Balkan New Film Festival] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150204150936/http://baneff.com/films-and-cities/ |date=February 4, 2015 }} 2014</ref><ref>[http://www.cinemateket.no/127479/the-weight-of-chains The Weight Of Chains] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150403073730/http://www.cinemateket.no/127479/the-weight-of-chains |date=April 3, 2015 }} CinemaTeket.no</ref> The film has also had cinema screenings in Australia, Serbia, Canada, and the United States.<ref>[http://weightofchains.ca/1/weight-of-chains-past-screenings/ Weight of Chains Past Screenings] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151215095753/http://weightofchains.ca/1/weight-of-chains-past-screenings/ |date=December 15, 2015 }} WeightOfChains.ca</ref>

The film was also due to be shown in the 2011 programme of Serbian film director [[Emir Kusturica]] at the [[Küstendorf Film and Music Festival]]. However two days before the festival began, the film was removed from the schedule without explanation.<ref>[http://www.vesti-online.com/Dijaspora/drzava/Kanada/Vesti/127741/Okovi-raspada-bivse-Jugoslavije "Okovi raspada bivše Jugoslavije" (in Serbian; "Shackles of the disintegration of the former Yugoslavia", by Gorana Gligorević, Vesti Online, 1 April 2011] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141106004305/http://www.vesti-online.com/Dijaspora/drzava/Kanada/Vesti/127741/Okovi-raspada-bivse-Jugoslavije |date=November 6, 2014 }}, accessed May 25, 2011</ref>

The film was broadcast in early 2015 on [[Eurochannel]]<ref>[http://www.eurochannel.com/en/The-Weight-of-Chains-Boris-Malagurski-Serbia.html The Weight of Chains] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150214163642/http://www.eurochannel.com/en/The-Weight-of-Chains-Boris-Malagurski-Serbia.html |date=February 14, 2015 }} on Eurochannel</ref> TV networks.

===RTS protest===
In June 2012, a protest in front of the [[Radio Television of Serbia|Radio Television Serbia]] building requested the airing ''The Weight of Chains'' on Serbia's [[Public broadcasting|public broadcaster]].<ref>[http://www.rts.rs/page/stories/sr/story/125/Dru%C5%A1tvo/1126806/Protest+ispred+RTS-a.html Protest ispred RTS-a] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141017125449/http://www.rts.rs/page/stories/sr/story/125/Dru%C5%A1tvo/1126806/Protest+ispred+RTS-a.html |date=October 17, 2014 }} RTS</ref> In front of 200 protesters, Malagurski said that [[Aleksandar Tijanić]], the director of RTS, had told him that despite positive reviews, ''The Weight of Chains'' couldn't be aired on RTS because it had already been aired on [[Happy TV]], Malagurski claimed only clips had been shown, which he said was corroborated by documents from Happy TV.<ref>[http://www.kurir-info.rs/rts-odbio-da-prikaze-film-tezina-lanaca-clanak-288509 RTS odbio da prikaže film Težina lanaca] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141018123136/http://www.kurir-info.rs/rts-odbio-da-prikaze-film-tezina-lanaca-clanak-288509 |date=October 18, 2014 }} Kurir</ref> Malagurski also said that "Serbia is the only country in the region and in almost all of Europe, where ''The Weight of Chains'' has not been shown by the national public broadcaster".<ref name="Protest ispred zgrade RTS-Wayback">{{cite web|url=http://www.pravda.rs/2012/06/23/protest-ispred-zgrade-rts-video |title=Protest ispred zgrade RTS - Internet Archive |publisher=pravda.rs |accessdate=12 October 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120727105157/http://www.pravda.rs/2012/06/23/protest-ispred-zgrade-rts-video |archive-date=July 27, 2012 }}</ref>

==Critical response==
The film has received mixed responses, these include ''(ordered by publication date)'':

[[Toni Ti]], writing in ''[[Brightest Young Things]]'', a [[Washington DC]] and [[New York City|New York]]-based web magazine, noted that the film "brings up a lot of issues the public may not be aware of". However, she describes the "often-gratingly blatant bias of the film maker". Malagurski, she says "employs a quippy sarcastic tone that sounds incredibly petulant and at times, too amateur for the gravitas subject matter". She goes on, "overall, spending 30 minutes on Kosovo and barely mentioning what really happened in Srebrenica leaves me questioning the director’s choice in taking this approach". Concluding, "what is he trying to show? It can be quite baffling at times".<ref name="Brightest Young Things">{{cite web | url=http://brightestyoungthings.com/articles/movie-review-weight-of-chains-opens-in-dc.htm | title=Weight Of Chains Opens In DC | publisher=Tony Ti - Brightest Young Things | date=May 23, 2011 | accessdate=26 September 2014 | archive-date=October 28, 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141028063037/http://brightestyoungthings.com/articles/movie-review-weight-of-chains-opens-in-dc.htm | url-status=live }}</ref>

[[Vladislav Panov]] of ''[[Pečat]]'', a weekly political magazine in Serbia, wrote that the film is "very convincing" and that "Malagurski covered the facts and scenes in the film just as [[Michael Moore]] does in his documentaries. And just like that film maker, obviously Boris' main role model, Malagurski located the source of evil in [[Washington, D.C.|Washington]] and big American corporations which had come to buy us out after instructing and preparing 'irrational slaughters of primitive Balkan peoples' ", but added that "Boris bravely detected the main domestic culprits in [[G17 Plus]] in skimming the cream on behalf of foreigners".<ref>[http://www.pecat.co.rs/2011/09/film-o-demokratskom-ropstvu/ Film o demokratskom ropstvu] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140916173514/http://www.pecat.co.rs/2011/09/film-o-demokratskom-ropstvu/ |date=September 16, 2014 }} Pecat Magazine online</ref>

[[Konstantin Kilibarda]], writing for the blog [[Politics, Respun]], described the film as a "misguided attempt to give an alternative account of the wars in the former Yugoslavia", and that the film maker "attempts to minimize, deflect and distort the well established role of Serbian leaders in the former Yugoslavia in pursuing a militant nationalist program since the late 1980s, that sought to reclaim Kosovo through the imposition of martial law, as well as create 'ethnically compact' territories that would link Serbs in Serbia with Serbian minorities in Bosnia and Croatia".<ref name="Kilibarda">{{cite web | url=http://politicsrespun.org/2012/02/undermining-solidarity-in-the-balkans-reviewing-boris-malagurskis-the-weight-of-chains/ | title=Reviewing The Weight of Chains - Konstantin Kilibarda | work=Politics, Re-Spun | date=November 30, 2001 | accessdate=3 September 2014 | archive-date=September 22, 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130922222630/http://politicsrespun.org/2012/02/undermining-solidarity-in-the-balkans-reviewing-boris-malagurskis-the-weight-of-chains/ | url-status=live }}</ref>

Historian Predrag Marković, in a discussion at [[Singidunum University]], said that the film talks with a language understandable to young Westerners, and that "the author, with a fine irony, distances himself in regards to the local figures and presents a very complex problem, evading self-justification that many domestic directors are prone to."<ref name="Markovic">{{cite web | url=http://mediacentar.fmk.singidunum.ac.rs/februar-2012/teina-lanaca | title=''Težina lanaca'' Screening at FMK | publisher=mediacentar fmk singidunum ac rs | date=27 February 2012 | accessdate=20 November 2014 | author=Gašić, Dimitrije | archive-date=November 29, 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129120808/http://mediacentar.fmk.singidunum.ac.rs/februar-2012/teina-lanaca | url-status=live }}</ref>

[[Tristan Miller]], writing in the U.K.'s ''[[Socialist Standard]]'', wrote "the film’s flimsier claims and arguments can be explained as the work of a naïve but well-meaning patriot, but others cannot be so innocently excused" ... "for all the effort he spends decrying the dishonest propagandising which fuelled the Yugoslavian implosion, he certainly has no qualms employing many of the same tricks when it suits his own agenda". Concluding, "he has a very low estimation of the intelligence of his audience".<ref name="Miller review"/>

Both Miller and Kilibarda were sympathetic to the film's claim that Western economic policies contributed to social instability in the buildup to the [[Yugoslav Wars]].<ref name="Miller review"/> Kilibarda also stated that "Western media often engaged in collective blame of the Serbs" in the mid-1990s.<ref name="Kilibarda"/>

[[Lukáš Perný]], writing in the [[Slovakia|Slovak]] ''[[Zem a Vek]]'' magazine, noted that the film presents information that helps the viewer to understand the interests behind the "colonization" of Yugoslavia.<ref name="Perný">{{cite web|url=http://zemavek.sk/articles/view/v-srbsku-protestuju-v-uliciach-tisice-ludi-proti-nato|title=In Serbia, thousands of people protest in the streets against NATO|last=Perný|first=Lukáš|work=Zem a Vek - Časopis |date=25 March 2016|publisher=Zem a Vek|accessdate=23 August 2017|archive-date=May 13, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170513095607/http://www.zemavek.sk/articles/view/v-srbsku-protestuju-v-uliciach-tisice-ludi-proti-nato|url-status=live}}</ref>

Serbian film critic [[Vladan Petković]] described the film as "pro-Serbian conspiracy theorist propaganda". According to Petković, "the film is promoted as having been made in [[Michael Moore]]'s style, but it totally lacks Moore’s characteristic qualities. Instead Malagurski interviews journalists, politicians, ex-ambassadors and historians, who all promote the same one-sided story of Serbia as a victim of Western capitalist imperialism".<ref name="nytid">{{cite news |last=Gjerstad |first=Nils |date=20 May 2011 |title=Med skulderen til veggen |work=[[Ny Tid]] | pages= 48–49 }}</ref>

[[Amir Telibećirović]] of [[Tačno.net]], in his review of the film, described it as: "new model of indoctrination based on the philosophy of [[Slobodan Milošević]] and the [[Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts]], through beautified propaganda, lies and manipulation.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.tacno.net/kultura/simpaticni-fasizam-i-duhovite-lazi-borisa-malagurskog/|title=Simpatični fašizam i duhovite laži Borisa Malagurskog {{!}} Tacno.net|website=www.tacno.net|date=August 30, 2017 |language=hr-HR|access-date=2018-04-24|archive-date=April 23, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180423170759/http://www.tacno.net/kultura/simpaticni-fasizam-i-duhovite-lazi-borisa-malagurskog/|url-status=live}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist|3}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb title|1789083|Weight of Chains}}
* {{Official website|https://weightofchains.ca/one/}}
* {{YouTube|waEYQ46gH08|The Weight of Chains}}
{{Boris Malagurski}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Weight Of Chains}}
[[Category:2010 films]]
[[Category:2010 documentary films]]
[[Category:Canadian documentary films]]
[[Category:Documentary films about politics]]
[[Category:Documentary films about Yugoslavia]]
[[Category:Yugoslav Wars films]]
[[Category:2010 English-language films]]
[[Category:2010 Canadian films]]
[[Category:English-language documentary films]]