Review of White God (2014) by Private U — 01 Mar 2015

The 100% rating for this film surprises me, as RT is usually on the nose with its reviews. But in this case it has fallen short, as this film has a number of issues. FIrst of all, the main characer of Lili. We struggle to identify with her from the beginning of the film. She is emotionally cold and distant: we can see why - her mother dumps her with her uninterested father for three months, and neither she nor the dog is wanted. But as an audience we need a way into her character, a sense that we understand her and her struggle. But what we get instead is rather a drab portrayal of a preteen who doesn't seem interested in much at all. Only the dog seems to interest her, and even this is called into question as the film progresses.

Because of this lack of connection in the first part of the film we find it hard to engage at all with her struggle as she searches for the dog. As a result when the denouement arrives and they are reunited, we care little whether the dog attacks her (as it has done several other people who had caused him pain earlier in the film) or not.

In trying too hard to be gritty and hard hitting (the opening scene in the abattoir wholly unecessary and only serving to place us as an audience in a no holds barred depiction of 'real life'), the film fails to allow us a way in to any of the characers. When the narrative switches into fantasy canine revenge mode in the last part of the film (enjoyable if a little silly), because of the first half's unrelenting bleakness, we feel a little cheated as an audience. What sort of film is it trying to be? Docu drama or magical realist fable?

I left the cinema feeling a little cheated: it could have been so much more powerful. But in trying too hard the film fails on several fronts.