“Dogtooth” Review
Hey guys.
So, film reviews are a big part of what I do on this blog. I’m going to try to keep an even balance of pretty-good movies that you guys have probably heard of in theaters, and little independent movies that you should be Netflixing right now, should you have both the interest and the capacity. The mere, unpretentious truth about the best films is that many times, you’ve never heard of them- so this is my way of reaching out and letting you know about movies that you may be missing.
Also-if you live in a major metropolitan area, much of these films can be seen at art-house cinemas- while thoroughly more challenging and not for the passive viewer, film buffs and people looking for more original fare will swear off the multiplex after a few winning experiences.
If you live in Miami-
These are all pretty f-ing fantastic establishments and they’re all over the city.
OK, done ranting.
“Dogtooth” Review
The reason I went into that was because this Greek film I saw the other night, from last year, “Dogtooth”, would definitely only be seen in this country at an art-house establishment.
The film has one of the most fascinating openings of recent memory- three people, staring intently at speaker as a woman’s voice comes on, addresses them as her children, and then proceeds to provide incorrect definitions of many common words as the three people eat it up eagerly, earnestly. Although all are clearly in their twenties, the act as children, controlled by impulse, easily amused, insanely competitive, and not a scrap of societal know-how between the three of them.
We learn after a few minutes that the three children are kept locked on the property by their father, an extremely suspicious and overprotective man who has done this to try and protect them from what he views are the corrupting tendrils of modern-day life. The son has reached an age where he must satisfy his sexual impulses or turn into a rage of hormones, so the father goes out and finds a woman who is willing to sleep with their son for money, a security guard at a local office park. He blindfolds her, takes her to the remote house, pays her, blindfolds her again, and drops her off.
The film deals with whether or not a highly idiosyncratic family such as this one, completely cut off from the world (so tightly controlled that the parents are able to redefine what common words mean without question, create fictional siblings that live on the other side of the wall, and tell them that planes are bird-sized artifacts by throwing a tow plane into the yard after actual aircraft pass overhead) can survive if a single fleck of outside influence is introduced. Furthermore, the film explores whether or not such a world is so hideously unnatural to a communal species such as humanity that it will inevitably punish those who try to escape from it altogether.
The film is perfectly weird, captivating from the get-go, and wildly successful as a narrative in terms of conveying both theme and emotion. While the aesthetics seem to want to distance the viewer from the strange characters (or simply paint them as people we will never understand) with long, long shots (three cuts a scene seems to be the law of the land) in which character’s heads are often cut off at the top of the frame and have entire conversations offscreen, we still have immense empathy for these literal adult children, people who have been robbed of an intrinsic part of the growth process and suffer daily for it.
While the film’s style may put some people off, it is the most original film I’ve seen in years in terms of setting and concept, is completely spot-on in its screwy execution, and the ending consequences result in some of the most powerful 2 minutes I’ve seen in a movie in a long, long time. It’s a film that is extraordinarily surreal, like many films try to be, but completely grounds its surreality in theme and actual human emotions- nothing feels unbelievable about it by the end, even though there are some out-LANDISH stuff in here. It is a rare film that is out-there enough to seem completely original and yet controls its narrative elements so well that it manages to be 100% clear on its themes and story without being stupid-obvious.
Highly recommended.
GRADE: A
See you next week.
-Tim