Greek Film Festival: Dogtooth
This is one of the best film I have seen in a long time, and what made it even better was that it was Greek. The content in Dogtooth is confronting, challenging, and literally takes a bite out of you. It’s the first Greek film to make official selection at the Cannes Film Festival in ten years, and it definitely earned its place. Dogtooth was the first film I saw at the Greek Film festival – it was refreshing to hear my native tongue on the big screen.
Director Yorgos Lanthimos catapults the viewer into a convincing world – all within the four walls of a massive property in the middle of nowhere. The three unnamed adolescent children have never seen the outside world and are beginning to discover their bodies. The drama begins when the father – the only member of the family that leaves the house – brings home a prostitute to satisfy his son. It is through this one “exposure” that the family setup begins to crack open.
All the acting in this film was beyond convincing – it was as if those three adolescents had never seen the outside world. Their naivety was believable and hilarious, the parents making up definitions for words as they went along – when a child asked their mother what a zombie was she replied “a yellow flower”!
This dark and psychologically disturbing film had all patrons in the cinema laughing the entire way through the film. But what was so clever about it was its ability to sadden and confront the viewer while they laughed. Some scenes had you transition from laughter to terror so quickly you barely had time to deal with each emotion.
Overall it was a four-star and a half star film for me, but woggy mums dads stuck in their old ways may find it too much. This film will be more suited to the second generation that is looking for a confronting story.
Koraly’s Rating: 4 1/2 stars
Demet Divaroren said,
September 11, 2009 at 2:08 am
This film was empty. Besides from two or three laugh out loud moments, it was dull, slow and had no storyline. I don’t know what they were trying to do with this. If it was to show the concept of nature v nurture, a more engaging, meaningful approach with a disturbing edge would have strengthened the film. I felt like a zombie watching it. I had no sympathy, no connection to the characters, I felt only for the poor cat. In my opinion, it’s a story of three kids who had the misfortune of being born to deranged parents.
0 stars!
Koraly Dimitriadis said,
September 11, 2009 at 3:09 am
Demet, I’m so sorry you didn’t enjoy the film but I completely disagree with your comment. To me, this film explores strict parents as a metaphor by taking it to the extreme. Many migrant parents do not allow their children to explore the world for fear that they may hurt themselves or be hurt by others. In Dogtooth, the children seem happy and content to begin with but then the outside world leaks in and strangles the family unit. These characters are beyond believable. The children’s innocence is infectious. You’re not sure if you should laugh or cry. These children were psychologically disturbed by their parents’ actions and will never be able to live a normal life. This film is a message to parents, that allowing your child to explore the world is better for them then keeping them in the house. Nature always catches up.
Yes this film is confronting and challenging but so is the theme. It is disturbingly brilliant.
I stick by my review on this: 4 ½ stars.
Kelly Sunderland said,
February 20, 2011 at 12:57 am
Demet,
The film is Greek and youe are Turkish???
Demet Divaroren said,
September 11, 2009 at 3:37 am
Koraly,
Strict parents are one thing, but SICK parents are another. They got this movie wrong. Yes, the audience should be shocked, but they should also be enlightened, not feel compelled to leave the movie halfway (30% of the audience did last night) because it failed to make the points you mention. Viewers should read between the lines, yes, but this movie has no lines. That’s the problem. The siblings are stranded in a home with overly protective parents, great start, but give them character, give them meaning. They could have made this movie so much more humorous, so much more humane, so the audience had something to cling to besides from mechanical sex, nudity, grotesque scenes that failed to shock an unfeeling audience.
Great concept, poor execution.
-0 stars :p
Koraly Dimitriadis said,
September 11, 2009 at 7:09 am
Demet, that’s the point. Yes the characters were flat because they had not LIVED, they were almost robotic. Can you image not knowing the world? Not knowing culture and other people and television and love. How would you be? You would be a zombie. That is why the prostitute had that dream – she dreamt that the son was a zombie because that is what he was. I admit that the film was hard to swallow but I think that was the intention. To confront people. And I appreciate films that challenge me. The reason why 30% of the people left the movie was probably because most of the people in the film were probably Greek parents that shelter their children from the world and try to protect them but in the end the children just end up rebelling. Nature always takes over.
Thanks for the debate babe.
craig shaw said,
May 9, 2010 at 7:45 pm
I saw this film at the Bradford Film Festival and it was a massive hit. And I can’t remember anyone walking out.
The reason people walk out of films like this is because it attacks their comfort zones. Popular culture makes people believe that they want something new, only to find out that when alternatives are offered the audience can’t stomach it.
The flat and measured tone of this film was entirely intentional. By making everything appear normal, almost documentary, it doesn’t cheat the audience into feeling something it doesn’t want to.
But here is the point; you are supposed to think that it is sick! You are supposed to be disturbed when the father makes the daughter take up Christine’s role. What you aren’t supposed to do, is use that emotional response that you had to try to argue that the film has no merit because of it.
I’m tired of a society that celebrates ‘exciting’ violence or sex in films, but complains when anyone questions it.
You say that you have no connection to the lead characters, perhaps that is the intention; the ‘children’ are all emotionally stunted and haven’t developed under ‘normal’ circumstances. Why would you be able to relate to them?
Whether the film is making a comment on censorship damaging society’s development, or that ‘family’ as an institution is ultimately flawed and hypocritical, is down to interpretation. But make no mistake, it is saying something.
The is a film where the character’s enlightenment is closely tied to the audiences’. you are presented, and kept from information in the same way. But, ultimately, the daughter rejects what she has been taught, which isn’t typical in society.
The film doesn’t wrap up neatly, and this is a problem for a lot of people. When you talk about the changes that you would like to see Demet, you are simply trying to ‘normalise’ the film so that it is more palatable. That is what mainstream Hollywood is about, not independent film’.
Maybe they can remake it for you with some hollywood stars. you know, make it a bit more cuddley-wuddley so you can relate to the characters and stuff. Stick Megan Fox in it and have celine dion do the score or something?
we have enough films like that, man. give something else a chance.
Koraly Dimitriadis said,
May 10, 2010 at 2:42 am
Hi Craig, well said! Thanks for joining the discussion. Of course this film was meant to shock, and I’m so tired of Holywood producing the same film over and over again, that’s why this film is so refreshing, because it pushes the boundaries.
Demet Divaroren said,
May 23, 2010 at 2:28 pm
Hi Craig,
I agree with you, I am all for challenging comfort zones and I try to do this with my writing. I watch and read quirky, anything that’s going to stir emotions, my imagination, enlighten me in new ways, challenge my thoughts, theories, shock my sensibilities. When I feel like a laugh or a romantic fix yeah, I visit Hollywood.
I simply did not like the way Dogtooth was executed. As I said, good concept, but the whole thing just didn’t gel for me. You and Koraly raised some good points and this is the beauty of discussions. But I stick to my word. I didn’t get it. It doesn’t mean that I want to turn the movie into Titanic, or ‘normalise’ it. God knows we have enough “normal” thoughts and theories in our society. Normal is a virus that’s made society stale, conventional, made people fear the unknown, anything different.
I read a T-shirt once that said “normal is only a setting on a washing machine.” How good would it be to break society’s mundane cycle.