Review of Dogtooth (2009) by Andrew P — 03 Nov 2011

I really enjoyed this movie when it first came out on DVD, and I recently had an opportunity to watch it again when it became the subject of a film club meeting I attended. A very silent, static, grinding picture punctuated by intermittent beats of feverish, almost robotic dialogue. I don't want to spoil anything about this movie, but this technique really sells what the movie is trying to convey.

A lot is being said with this film, I think, amongst which -- but not exclusively -- are themes of social isolation, how context and environment plays a pivotal role in human behavior, how no matter how hard you try to shelter yourself and others from the objective truths of the world it will always find a way to infect, how trying to create a fantasy world of lies to shield yourself from what you perceive as the ugliness around you can only snowball with new lie after new lie until everything comes crashing down, and there even seems to be a pretty strong theme of the effect fascism can have on a repressed society with a few moments of less than subtle symbolism.

I really enjoy how you aren't bludgeoned over the head with the disturbing nature of the film, but rather slowly exposed to it little by little until the full horror of the situation presented in the script finally dawns on you.

Overall, this is a deeply disturbing film with some great performances, an objective approach to cinematography and editing, and some thought provoking themes.