Review of Dogtooth (2009) by Ben S — 19 Sep 2012

'Dogtooth' does one thing well--shock; I'm not convinced that Marilyn Manson wasn't a producer, because he would be very proud to call this Greek film his own.

Not knowing what I was getting myself into, I was quite surprised by both the story, content, and even the strangely surreal acting.

Spoiler ALERT!

The film is about a family that has never allowed its three grown children to leave the confines of its remote country property. The film is almost entirely shot in and around the family's house, creating a sense of solitude and ignorance. This ignorance is compounded as the parents miseducate their children with intentionally incorrect definitions, scientific nonsense, and an even more troubling sense of sexuality. Particularly, the father occasionally brings an outside woman into the household, and pays her to service his son. A few twists and turns later after this arrangement is ended, incest takes over as the most troubling thing about this film. All of the grotesquely fascinating fare is enhanced by a fairly sparse amount of dialogue and an almost total lack of music. The final result is a complete feeling of isolation.

Although I think that the filmmaker hit his mark and achieved what he was hoping to, I can't recommend this film. At its core, the sociological issues are fascinating, and the concept is an interesting one--this is just a film I can't get behind.