The main point of Dogtooth's plot is clear and simple: Orwellian authority leads to terrible situations. This sums up the whole film. The authority here is applied by parents on their three children. To avoid spoilers, I will go no further into details of the plot.
The absurd moments of Dogtooth are enjoyable to watch and very dark at times. All the "unexplained" behaviour of the characters is backed up by plot details and promotes character development.
Lanthimos doesn't hide his influences. He pays tribute to art-house cinema and even adopts styles and formulas in a very competent way. In fact, it would not surprise me at all if Lanthimos was just an alias for a collaboration between Michael Haneke and Lars Von Trier. Then Dogtooth would have been among their best work. However, the directing is certainly not just a sum of influences and there is some excellent camera-work to portray underlying themes.
I could only describe the acting in this film as risky. The characters sound unrealistic, as if they are hypnotized. This can be blamed on the characters deep mental issues but still, unless one pays attention to the actors' facial expressions it is easy to dismiss all acting as flat and "wooden". Unfortunately, subtitles don't help much to avoid that.
And then, just when the plot starts to develop, the most sudden and pretentious ending of all time comes to leave loose ends everywhere and show that the film had actually made its point in the first twenty minutes and the rest was merely there for extra shock value and controversy. The whole film reduces to just a "look how weird we are" collection of scenes. That's right. No deep meanings. No legitimate conclusion. Not even something to contemplate or discuss with other viewers. It could just as well have been the director telling us "thank you for your money but I ran out of reels so that was it and interpret it any way you like".
As happens with too many art-house films (and modern art in general), some viewers will make up deeper meanings which can only be supported if you fill in the gaps of the script with made up details and side-stories. Then will argue that the having to use their brains proves the film a masterpiece and that anyone with a negative opinion just didn't "get it".
But honestly, I summed up most of what the film tried to say in the beginning of the review. In ONE sentence. The whole film is just an excuse to practice directing technique and to use European art-house hype-creating formula of content that would get a Hollywood film blacklisted from all major studios. Well, I an NOT impressed. I am immune to "uncomfortable" scenes, so watching a film that consists of only that and little else is a huge disappointment to me. This time it will cost only 2 stars since the film is otherwise good.
If you liked films like Dancer in the Dark, Funny Games, Dogville or maybe Requiem for a Dream, then you will probably love this. If you hate the combination of hollow and pretentious then avoid. If you enjoy absurdity and dark humour like I do then it's definitely worth your time.
The absurd moments of Dogtooth are enjoyable to watch and very dark at times. All the "unexplained" behaviour of the characters is backed up by plot details and promotes character development.
Lanthimos doesn't hide his influences. He pays tribute to art-house cinema and even adopts styles and formulas in a very competent way. In fact, it would not surprise me at all if Lanthimos was just an alias for a collaboration between Michael Haneke and Lars Von Trier. Then Dogtooth would have been among their best work. However, the directing is certainly not just a sum of influences and there is some excellent camera-work to portray underlying themes.
I could only describe the acting in this film as risky. The characters sound unrealistic, as if they are hypnotized. This can be blamed on the characters deep mental issues but still, unless one pays attention to the actors' facial expressions it is easy to dismiss all acting as flat and "wooden". Unfortunately, subtitles don't help much to avoid that.
And then, just when the plot starts to develop, the most sudden and pretentious ending of all time comes to leave loose ends everywhere and show that the film had actually made its point in the first twenty minutes and the rest was merely there for extra shock value and controversy. The whole film reduces to just a "look how weird we are" collection of scenes. That's right. No deep meanings. No legitimate conclusion. Not even something to contemplate or discuss with other viewers. It could just as well have been the director telling us "thank you for your money but I ran out of reels so that was it and interpret it any way you like".
As happens with too many art-house films (and modern art in general), some viewers will make up deeper meanings which can only be supported if you fill in the gaps of the script with made up details and side-stories. Then will argue that the having to use their brains proves the film a masterpiece and that anyone with a negative opinion just didn't "get it".
But honestly, I summed up most of what the film tried to say in the beginning of the review. In ONE sentence. The whole film is just an excuse to practice directing technique and to use European art-house hype-creating formula of content that would get a Hollywood film blacklisted from all major studios. Well, I an NOT impressed. I am immune to "uncomfortable" scenes, so watching a film that consists of only that and little else is a huge disappointment to me. This time it will cost only 2 stars since the film is otherwise good.
If you liked films like Dancer in the Dark, Funny Games, Dogville or maybe Requiem for a Dream, then you will probably love this. If you hate the combination of hollow and pretentious then avoid. If you enjoy absurdity and dark humour like I do then it's definitely worth your time.
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