Review of Man Bites Dog (1992) by Vaibhav W — 04 Oct 2010

This is the kind of film that tries to prove mockingly, that "if god does not exist everything is permitted". The provocation starts with the original title "It happened in your neighborhood", a joke as to make you feel guilty for have not noticed it; and cinema should be the other accomplice.

It is true that we live in a reality that is not ours anymore, from which we are distant, (the post-modern theories), but here Ben -the murderess- well knows what he's doing -and can distinguish live from dead- so there is no giusification to the violence, and voyeurism that the film project us.

I really liked the way to portray as normal his way of thinking and living, and the fact that it prevailed on common sense, but -unlike more serious and less complacent films like henry portrait of a serial killer- the irony of the absurd cannot obscure the immorality and stupidity of the work itself: the film pretends to give responsibility to the viewer, but instead it just puts our backs to the wall (chained to the fate of the crew, with no way out).

Eventually, the film seems to mistake that cinema is not the media, they are two different separeted things, and in no way it should be empowered to trap you into this.