Dog Days

Being absolutely unfamiliar with Austrian cinema, I've got simply astounded by this movie. More than two hours long and all the time developing the slow, monotonous rhythm it could have been a real torture for the beholder, but instead it offers something unique and very captivating.

Here are few characters, whose life paths constantly interlock in a little city in tragic coincidences. The old widower with his dog. The mad hitch-hiking girl, whose hobby is exasperating her companions with useless chatter. The middle-aged couple, whose only daughter had died in an accident some time ago and who hardly speak to each other, despite their living in the same house. The hysterical guy, torturing his girl, who works in a strip club. The aging woman who gets bullied by her macho-looking hairy boyfriend. Everyone is unhappy and that's the simple keynote. But almost no one stirs up sympathy. The world is sweaty, dried-up, brutal, senseless. And all the kindness it can provide is epitomized in the final strip-tease that the elderly maid is doing for the old man with the dog.

The dog is certainly already poisoned to that time. The mad girl is raped. The aging woman is humiliated.

The "everything is bad" slogan can seem trite, but the director Ulrich Seidl proves it with cogency. "Hundstage" is probably the most dismal film of the 21th century so far, but it works great due to its exceptional cinematic merits. According to what I know it's the first Seidl's feature film, all his previous outings were strictly documentary. Spreading his meticulous attitude to things on this work, Seidl attains the highest degree of realism, maybe even what we use to call hyper-realism. "Hundstage" is stunning by all means and comes highly recommended for all art-film fans.

Trailers of this movie may show scenes of violence or non mainstream sexuality, but these scenes are just rare fragments, picked out to attract audience. They are, of course showing the main message of the movie:

People who are constantly kicked on their heads in their jobs and lives, using power, which they may have somewhere else, to notoriously oppress others. And at the low end of the oppression chain, mostly women.

A movie showing this as brutally as Hundstage is surely tough to face, but having to endure such lives, is even tougher.

Technically the film is much like Short Cuts, but consisting of documentary style episodes, featuring people like your neighbour, playing just the way they are. Without any glitter, and most disturbingly, without any hope. Its documentary style makes the movie even more disturbing, because you realize, such people are out there, and there are many of them, although our society focuses on the nice exterior looks. Somewhere the porn industry has to do its business, somewhere unreported domestic violence has to take place, somewhere hopes have to shatter. I sure do know such people.

If you want to see a movie without any funny scenes (some may think the handicapped woman repeating the top ten supermarkets is funny, but this happens for real) and without any melodramatic, go watch this movie. However it will lose when you are focusing on subtitles I fear, as subtitles can´t transport accentuation.

It's nothing brilliant, groundbreaking or innovative, but 'Dog Days' is for some reason an extremely fascinating character study. It's like CRASH tripping on a bad dose of heroin, but not really. It's an Austrian film following the lives of several depressed, deranged and annoying people and their abusive relationships with each other. It's disturbing, yet very well-acted and it's interesting to watch the crazy little things these characters do. Certainly not for the weak-hearted, this highly pessimistic film offers no conclusion or revelation at the end, we just see the lives of these sordid individuals over the course of two days. Grade: B

Not the sort of movie you expect to find for 99p in a medieval market town's Cash Converters!

I HAD seen Dog Days before, probably on Film 4, where such oddities belong but unaware of this director's subsequent films, though I had seen Import/Export on F4 but not made the connection.

Firstly, I find it strange that many, including some reviewers here have the notion that Austria to be a genteel place. They're human as everybody is everywhere, whether that be LA, London or Vienna. And didn't a certain A. Hitler come from Austria and more significantly, cinematic provocateur extraordinaire, Michael Haneke is Austrian and all his early movies were about and showing almost exactly the same kind of under-the-target unrest and spiralling human life of his fellow Austrians.

To be honest, whilst Haneke is much more the international film-maker (the Oscars in 2013, I believe?) and is much revered, critically, I find his rather sadistic and humourless approach just a bit too trying.

Uri's sardonic and often ridiculous scenarios are often achingly funny - such as the habitual hitch-hiker who soon gets spouting off crazy top ten lists, obviously not knowing what they mean (top ten positions for lovemaking, for example, then, for most popular models of TVs).

Filmed in one long heat-wave with lots of (frankly) overweight Austrians removing their clothing as much as they can - and not just for sex - adds to the strangeness and won't appeal to everyone, but in the 34C heat and in and around our own homes, wouldn't we want to do this too?

There are quite long periods of fairly trivial talk about trivial things - but what might be trivial to the modern suburban Viennese, is actually strangely fascinating for us. Then, there are quite long periods of sadistic cruelty - visiting Haneke's 'Funny Games' territory and as much enjoyment. These, as they should be, are an uncomfortable watch and their inclusion might be questioned, but I would guess are as otherwise the whole exercise would be a quirky, near freak-show comedy.

There are simply too may elements to go into - and if you're not one who can handle a couple of minutes of actual hardcore orgy porn, filmed specially, not as a video on someone's TV, simply ignore this movie. Over ten years have passed since this movie came out and time and viewing habits and expectations have obviously lessened many of the potential shock elements, now.

Indeed, there's almost nothing new here, that hasn't been said, now. That aside, no genre is seemingly unique now and Dog Days still appeals due to its fresh fizz and liberal attitudes. It still remains a unique viewing experience and for the liberally minded adult, has much to offer as both an offbeat social statement as well as entertainment.

This film is great. As often heard, it is indeed very realistic and sometimes brutal, but unlike some other people I am clearly not of the opinion that it is depressing, negativistic or dismantling Austria as a proto-fascist society. Quite the contrary: While there are indeed some very heavy scenes in HUNDSTAGE and some characters are to be called very bad persons, at the same time you watch love, beauty and humor in Ulrich Seidls film. And that's exactly what distinguishes HUNDSTAGE for me from other films that try to show the lives of the 'ordinary people' in an intense, realistic way; their hustle, their wishes, their dark sides: Seidl clearly never tries to prove, that the lives of the working-class people are trash! In my opinion, viewers who come to this conclusion seem to be very afraid of admitting, that nearly nobody's live is as 'clean' and 'normal' as we would like other people to believe. And that every live has its dark and often depressing sides. The most beautiful scene: The old Viennese man, watching his old girl dancing 'the oriental way', as he is calling it. I think everybody who finds this scene ugly lacks a sense of beauty and should ask themselves what it is, that's proto-fascist: The characters in HUNDSTAGE or viewers, who are turned off by the body of a 70+ year old woman, dancing with all her charms for her lover.