Dogtooth (Review)

Yorgos Lanthimos’ Dogtooth is my kind of strange. It’s brutal, awkward, disturbing, hilarious and ultimately profound, with some impressively unique direction and intentionally mechanical performances that drive the weirdness home. While watching Dogtooth, the viewer is simultaneously detached and enthralled, as is we’re getting a peek at something we shouldn’t be privy to. The instinct is to avert your eyes, but the film never lets you.

Essentially, Dogtooth is about the most overprotective parents in the history of mankind, and that’s including the mother from Black Swan. Their house is surrounded by a large wall meant to keep their three children from escaping to the outside world. They’ve created a false world in which they want their children to live, even as they grow into adults. By the time Dogtooth starts, the children are all in their 20’s at the least, yet they behave like children. The parents have even gone as far as to create a kind of false language. At the dinner table, when a child wants the salt, they ask for the “telephone.”

However, the children rarely question these lies that are fed to them. In reality, I doubt anyone would. They haven't been told otherwise. Even when the children thirst to leave the confines of the house they do not do so because they feel they have been lied to (à la The Truman Show), but instead they leave because they feel it’s the next logical step. Parents always say they need to let their children leave the nest. The parents in Dogtooth want no such thing to happen. They tell their children they’ll be able to leave once their dogtooth falls out (thus the title), but that opening only exists so that they don’t deprive their children of all hope. It’s obvious they will never let them loose of their own free will.

Lanthimos uses an almost Kubrickian style at points, often bringing back memories of A Clockwork Orange. It presents the action in a very disconnected way, merely showing us the often abusive action without getting us involved. Some of the more risqué moments merely happen without any real stylistic touches, and as a result most of the sex scenes are about as erotic as a ham sandwich. This makes the film all the more effective when it flirts with more incestuous territory. By that I almost mean less effective. It doesn’t have much impact on us because it doesn’t have much impact on the characters. They don’t think they’re doing anything wrong, so why would we?

A review of Dogtooth can only be vague. It’s best seen with as little knowledge as possible. The fascination of the film comes from its ability to slowly create its world without over-explaining anything. There are little/no theme-reciting monologues which lay it all on the table. There are no lines that will be recited for ages to come. The whole of Dogtooth is infinitely greater than the sum of its parts. This is often a most impressive film.

This film will undoubtedly be a little too weird for some to stomach, and that’s understandable enough. It’s a rough sit, and there’s a legitimate debate as to whether the film ever really makes it all worth it. What helps is the film’s sense of humor, which is pitch-black but rather affective. You laugh at many scenes because you feel as if there is no other logical reaction. What you’re seeing is so strange, so unique and so horrifying that you can’t help but let out an awkward chuckle.

What makes Dogtooth stand alone are the statements it makes about modern society. It’s not limited to themes about parenting, but also about the ability of us all to create our own, self-serving universes. Conservatives can devote their lives to nothing but Fox News, while liberals could simply listen to Keith Olbermann 24/7 and consider their lives fulfilled. This does not inform them, but merely strengthens their predispositions. The family in Dogtooth has created a specialized bubble in which they can escape from all outside influences, but the film makes the obvious argument that perhaps that is ultimately unhealthy. It just does so in the freakiest and most haunting way possible. Mostly freaky.

Rating:  (out of 4)

NOTE:

Dogtooth has been added to my “Best of 2010” list, coming in at #16. Read the full list HERE.