White God (2014)

After seeing the first trailer, I thought this looks interesting, this might look like a "Planet of the apes" adaptation, only with dogs. Then it won quite surprisingly in Cannes, so this really deserves a watch. Especially since these kind of movies are quite rare in Hungary.

Well, to start with the good things: The main dog (Max) is awesome. Same goes to almost every scene related to the dogs, the pet trainers did a brilliant job. Considering real shelter dogs were used here too, the animal team deserves high applause.

Also from production/directing perspective this movie is really a good step into the right direction. You didn't see a hungarian movie all the time, it's high class, even for western standards.

The list with the bad things will be unfortunately much longer: -The acting is really bad.The main character girl Lili was already annoying enough with her behavior, but with the bad acting performance it was just overall terrible. Same goes to the afghan character played by the director itself. Holy moly, Kornél, where did you get that horrible fake Russian accent? -The story itself didn't make any sense and I couldn't take it serious. It was not explained why literally EVERYONE in the goddamn city (apart from Lili of course) hates dogs now. If you want to build a whole movie about this, better have some explanation. Even a cheesy one (like some infection) or whatever. This is a no go. -100 dogs and a city falls. No really, they set it up like 28 days later. Only there it was a global virus. Here it was like 100 dogs! Of all kind! Not even 100 pitbulls, it was mixed with tiny to big, and none of them really looked terrifying, that would explain why people left their cars in panic on the middle of the bridge. Give me a break. -There is a never ending party scene, which I guess only had one purpose, to promote some song. Also for people with epileptic problems, this will be a hard challenge. -The ending twist was could be predicted after 5 minutes. I'm not joking, you'll see it yourself.

The comparing with "Planet of the Apes" has it's reasons, since both movies have their leader who is doing a revolution, and with one human friend connection. Only 100 strong apes would be a more reasonably threat, than 100 dogs, so it's sadly a bit laughable considering how serious this movie took itself. I find it hard to believe, that police would have big problems catching 100 dogs which are together all the time. They were even in a tunnel,so just block both ends with nets or a fence.

There you go, you're welcome...

Fmovies: White God received great praise at Cannes in 2014, an indie film from my own country, Hungary. Naturally, I was excited so see it. Unfortunately, it failed to become anything other than forgettable, in my mind.

While not a bad movie, the main problem is the little but numerous issues that drag the whole movie down. But positives first: -The film has a great opening sequence. -Despite lacking acting at times, the characters actually have character. -Some great musical cues. -A few select, genuinely well done performances. -A technically impressive finale, that broke some world records I won't spoil here. -A solid, well done message. -Pretty good pacing throughout.

All sounds great so far, right? Unfortunately, the movie struggles to keep a positive momentum for long, as numerous issues hinder it: -The main character often underacted scenes, completely ruining them. Child actors are infamous in movies, and for good reason, and this one, even if she is above average, does not escape being a bad actor in certain moments. -Some of the action scenes feel completely out of place, and to top it all off, have lacking camera-work. I'm talking about the shaky, quick- cut type of film-making that is sadly all too common these days. -Some stylistic choices regarding the audio mixing feel completely pointless, made only to increase the film's "artsy" factor. -Despite praising the finale's technical proudness, the things happening on-screen are indeed ridiculous and unrealistic. This wouldn't be a problem, if the script had any self-awareness. It doesn't. -Some scenes are completely devoid of logic. one spoiler-free example is when out main character convinces her father to go to work, and he immediately leaves the apartment and takes off to work, without changing clothes or any preparations. - A horribly executed club scene, that has the characters talking at silent room levels, but still able to hear each other clearly despite being in a supposedly loud bar. It's stuff like this that solidifies this as an amateur project. -Many more mistakes that I won't mention because I respect your time, dear reader.

In closing, this is not a bad movie, and like with all movies, I urge you to see it and make your own opinions on it. I, however, expected a lot more. This one gets a 6/10.

A novel blend of the old Lassie movies with Hitchcock's The Birds. I was a bit stumped thinking about the intended demographic. Thematically it was a children's movie, but it should also be rated at least R-38+ for animal abuse and gory violence. This leaves us with an imaginary demographic, mathematically speaking. Still I enjoyed parts of the movie, as some sequences are visually amazing, while the dogs are expressive and well-trained.

Agree with the wise reviewer that once said, "It is also a parable about how one species dominates another in the belief it is the superior." Having said that, it's also a tale of huge bastards of the non-canine variant. Not to mention a story of extraordinary vile scumbaggery by a hominem species. In fact, not a single one of the adults seems sympathetic, which makes the movie sort of unique - if not necessarily in a good way.

As a bonus. It was interesting to learn that 100% of all Hungarians are either a**ho***, sociopaths, or both, with the exception of preadolescent girls. (Then again, it is true that much of the Hungarian society in recent years has suffered from virulent strain of xenophobia directed at transitory refugees. Not that it's the only country at that.)

White God fmovies. White God if one of those achievement can only be done outside USA. Working with real dogs instead of digital effects; this movie is a cautionary tale about rejection, lack of communication, discrimination and its effects and consequences. Lili owns and loves a half breed dog called Hagen. Her mother planning three month trip with his new boyfriend; send her to live with her father; Daniel; a sour and frustrated man that rejects the dogs from the first moment. Lili try to take the dog with her everywhere but many people complain; including a messy neighbor who calls the dog catcher's.

Adding to the problem that Hungary's law has a tax on half free dogs; and Daniel refuse to pay it because his ex-wife did not do it either. In a moment of anger; Daniel left the dog on the street and Hagen has to find his way back.

The world surrounding the streets is far from idyllic. Hagen meets other dogs and somewhat befriends them; but dog catchers appears and capture many dogs. Hagen escapes but is captured by a dog fighter trainer who trains him and soon becomes a violent and salvage dog.

After killing another dog; Hagen escapes again; but is captured by the dog catchers who seeing him hurt; decide to kill him. Hagen who already demonstrated how intelligent and perceiving is; attack the human and release other dogs (hundreds of them) and go on killing spree around the city attacking humans who tortured them putting the city under curfew and creating chaos.

The most outstanding, compelling and moving performance is Hagen itself; played by two dogs; really Oscar deserving.

The rest of the cast; specially the 12 years old Zsófia Psotta as Lili are incredible good in a character quite strong, trying to be adult but still too young to be by herself. Everyone of her moments in screen is captivating.

In brief; a very intense movie; with a little but necessary gore worth seeing even in video.

Lili is eleven years old and has a beloved dog – Hagen. Her parents are split up and when her mother has to go for a 3 month jolly with work to Australia – she has to stay with pops. Only he lives in an apartment where mutts are verboten. All cross breeds are seen as inferior to pure breeds in Hungary.

Despite her best efforts Hagen ends up on the mean streets of Budapest and she, in her innocent way, sets out to find him. Now that is the very simple synopsis for what is a film with so much more to offer. This is a cast of thousands – of dogs that is. All of the mixed breed dogs were untrained and rescued from shelters. The performances are stunning. There are scenes of animal butchery and animal cruelty – so if that will offend then this may not be for you.

It is also a parable about how one species dominates another in the belief it is the superior – and we all know that in parables pride leads to a fall.

This is also shot beautifully in a beautiful city with stunning realism and an eye for the impact that such a powerful story can make. Official entry fro the Academy Awards for best foreign language film 2015 and winner of Un Certain Regard prize at the 2014 Canes Film Festival – this is amazing, original, stunning and highly entertaining cinema.

"Don't be afraid, they're just a bunch of dogs." Man at a club.

Well it's not the surrealistic Cujo with its rabid St. Bernard or the benign Benji. White Dog, rather, feels like a realistic horror film, at least till the closing when it does get surreal. Indeed, these mutts are not "just a bunch." They loosely represent the abused and subjugated underclass of the world, and you guessed it, they revolt like apes from that infamous planet or workers from Metropolis.

Until that fantasy ending, where the dogs are let loose to wreak havoc, the story is an effectively scary progression of the dog Max's descent into rabid madness through various masters, the last of whom teaches him how to kill for dog fights. Young Lili (Zsofia Psotta) befriends Max as a stray until she's forced to let him go—on to his bloody career. Lili's struggles to keep the dog put her in opposition to her father, Daniel (Sandor Zsoter),and most authoritarian situations like playing in an orchestra under a controlling maestro.

As the drama slowly exposes (think about Hitchcock's measured exposition in The Birds) the constant abuse stray dogs are accustomed to, it parallels Lili's battle with a clueless father and abusive dog catchers, who sometimes resemble Ghostbusters in their uniforms and bungling dog chases. In either case, dog or girl, adults are usually clueless about the suffering they inflict on their dogs and children.

Like the poor French of their Revolution, the downtrodden and dogs will have their day. Today's increasing gap between the rich and poor or the brutality of Mid-Eastern ISIS persecutions can serve as the objects of writer/director Kornal Mundruczo's figurative story. For those not interested in English-major deconstructions, White God (the title may be homage to Sam Fuller's White Dog) is a fine horror story about the voiceless downtrodden rising up against their oppressors.

No matter which side you're on, it's a disturbing tale, bloody and depressing, elevated to artistic worthiness by an uncanny fusion of the real and the surreal.