Dogman

"Dogman" brings the story of Marcello. As the movie opens, we see Marcello groom a dog in his shop, which is called Dogman. We get to know Marcello, who sells some drugs on the side to make ends meet, and who more than anything care much for his daughter whom he sees occasionally. Among his friends (?) is Simon, a former boxer who terrorizes the neighborhood. Simon "convinces" Marcello to participate in a jewel heist, but when things go wrong, Marcello is picked up by the cops. Marcello refuses to rat out Simon and is sentenced to one year in jail... What will happen when Marcello is released a year later? To tell you more of the plot would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.

Couple of comments: this is the latest movie from Matteo Garrone, who previously brought us the excellent mafia drama "Gomorrah". Here he delves into the lives of small crimes, and along the way examines the human condition. Due to the plot-heavy nature of the film, I can't go into much more details, sorry, just take my word for it that this is an intense but very rewarding movie experience. Marcello Fonte is outstanding in the lead role. The photography is excellent as well (the movie was shot in Castel Volturno, just north of Napoli).

"Dogman" premiered at this year's Cannes film festival, to immediate acclaim. Fonte won the Best Actor award. I happen to catch this movie during a recent family visit to Belgium. The early evening screening where I saw this at in Antwerp, Belgium was attended okay (about 15 people). I have no idea if this will reach US theaters, but imagine that if not else, this will be available on VOD and other platforms. If you are interested in a top notch foreign movie about the human conditions, I readily suggest you check this out when you can, and draw your own conclusion.

This is a small but lovely and dark Italian gem. Its such a stylish and well-told story. It feels so iconic and classic and the two leading actors give exceptional and unique performances. I felt invested from the very first minute and the whole movie had a dark charm and told a not-so-important, but thrilling story. There are some elements, like the quirky performance of the leading actor and the impressive storytelling that make this film kind of exceptional. 8/10 Watch it

At first, "Dogman" tricks you into thinking it is just the usual parable of the oppressor and the oppressed, but as the story progresses, it reveals itself as an equally brutal, ambiguous and fascinating reflection on human instincts and drives. In the end, is it the story of a man who failed to tame the beast? Or is it the story of a beast who kept being loyal to the wrong man until he was inevitably forced to respond to his instincts and finally bite back?

The desolate beach resort and shady characters, familiar from Gomorrah, plays back drop to the dog man, Marcello, of the title. He is played by the superb Marcello Fonte, who he is directed well in this tale of morality and dog grooming amongst the immoral.

This is not a story of co-dependence; it is a modern story of paths that cross but never synchronise. While Marcello seems to play the inferior to a bully, we learn very quickly that Marcello is not a schlemiel, but I'm wondering if some reviewers missed this. He is the little guy, but in a milieu where the little guy has a valid place.

Problems with the film appear in two areas; Fonte is simply a much better actor than those around him, and the canvas for this film starts to look too small, very quickly. We are given strange bits of wonderful cinematography, before returning to the squalid world of the dog man. This neither serves to make the film seem kooky, or more realistic. Unlike Gomorrah that held an unrelenting documentary eye, this looks like at times a tentative Trainspotting.

There is something good going on here, but it doesn't quite make it's way into a fully fledged film. It engages strongly in parts, but just like the ending, doesn't focus on one thing or the other.

It's very understandable that so many reviewers of this film make a statement that they can't recommend this film to anyone. It's almost an orgy of sado-masochism, where a little humble man with a daughter making his living on taking care of dogs is harassed by the supreme local bully, who terrorizes the entire district, an almost surrealistic desolation of a human slum district in the Naples area, that just couldn't be more dreary. He tries in vain to compromise with the bully by serving him, which he never should have done in the first place, because it only worsens the trouble. The final settlement is a grotesque monstrosity of a disposal vying with the most atrocious finales of Visconti in explicit realism. The case of Marcello is and will always remain a puzzle, why did he at all try to compromise with such an obvious criminal maniac, you just don't compromise with terrorists, which will only eventually turn you one of them. The film is horribly realistic all the way, and it's difficult to see that anything good could come out of it, and we never learn what trials Marcello will encounter next.