White Dog

If you get the chance, by all means see this movie, but try to leave your preconceptions aside.

Before this movie came out, it was roundly denounced by people who misunderstood what it is about. The story is not, as many feared, about a dog trained to attack black people. It is the story of a man (Paul Winfield) and his determination to do something that everyone says cannot be done - FREE the dog of its programming. Unfortunately, it seems that too few people were able to break THEIR programming and give this movie a chance.

White Dog (1982) is about an attack dog specifically trained to attack and kill black people. Some obviously shocking moments and plenty awkward acting and closeups. The dog acting was Oscar worthy. Shame Kristy McNichol didn't take tips, her performance was amateurish and off-putting throughout. The whole the film has a made for TV movie feel it can't quite shake. A remake with a bigger budget would be interesting but no one would have the balls to make this now.

I can't let this be the only comment for White Dog.

The best film about racism and hatred I've ever seen, with the basic message that hatred isn't something a child is born with, it's something they have been taught. And the question is raised, can you un-teach them?

A black animal trainer (Paul Winfield) attempts to re-train an attack dog taught to kill people with black skin.

Paramount tucked it's tail between it's legs when protesters who had never seen the film claimed it was the work of racists.

Fuller moved to France and never made another American movie. (He made one in France)

PS: to the lady above me, that annoying piano is Ennio Morricone and he has forgotten more about music than you will ever know.

"white dog" is one of the best films of the 80's,it's a very very hard film but also a really clever and lucid film about racism,conditioning,hatred and the complex connections between people and animals. The acting (especially from Kristy McNichol and Paul Winfield) is great,Fuller's direction and his sense of editing and use of slow motion are really effective,the screenplay is brilliant and ennio Morricone's soundtrack is really beautiful and haunting. I have only an old VHS (with bad dubbing and full screen format)of "white dog"...this underrated masterpiece really deserves a beautiful edition on DVD!

White Dog is often mentioned on lists of all-time most controversial films, and there's a good reason for that. Samuel Fuller's film is controversial because it confronts the theme of racism head on, and succeeds where modern films such as 'Crash' fail in that it actually makes you think. Rather than actually being 'about' racism, White Dog tells a story and lets the themes flow; thus meaning that the audience is allowed to see the themes shining through, rather than being beaten over the head with them. The film is really clever and is based on a premise that isn't immediately obvious. In fact, if it wasn't for a series of little niggles; this film would be an absolute masterpiece. The problems with the film are largely down to the execution, as Samuel Fuller uses too many close-up shots; and the scenes where the title animal attacks in particular suffer from poor editing, which means that it's sometimes difficult to tell exactly what's going on and most of the time gave me a headache. Furthermore, the plot doesn't move particularly well and the film can seem like it isn't going anywhere at times.

It's a good job, then, that Fuller utilises his themes so well. Racism isn't a subject that interests me generally (mostly because of tacky, sentimental dross like Crash), but the plot here is used in such a way that it's impossible not to be taken in by it. We follow a young aspiring actress that accidentally runs a dog over. After becoming attached to it, she decides to take it in; but pretty soon the dog attacks someone, and she finds out that aside from being a white dog, it's also a 'White Dog'; a dog used by white people to kill blacks. The main reason why this film is so good is down to the title animal. Here we have an entity that is entirely innocent of its crimes; the guilty party being the racist that trained him. By letting us see what the dog is capable of, but making sure we know that the dog is only doing what it has been programmed to do ensures that the true horror of racism is allowed to shine through; as well as the futility of hatred down to skin colour. Films like White Dog are few and far between; here we have a movie that dares to tell a story despite its implications, and a movie that forces its audience to think about their own prejudices. It's just sad that we live in a world where films like Crash win Oscars while films like White Dog are banished into obscurity. Highly recommended!