Dogtooth

Year: 2009
Director: Giorgos Lanthimos
Writer: Giorgos Lanthimos, Efthymis Filippou
Genre: Black comedy

I've got to admit that Dogtooth really had me confused for a while. It wasn't hard to get into the world of the film but it was a bit hard to comprehend. It felt like the supposed hilarity of the film was passing right over my head. Usually I do well with black comedies but I was worried this might be just too far flung from my usual intake.

For a large portion of the film it was exactly that. However, in the final 3rd of the film I finally felt like I "got" the joke. I can't remember now what exactly the tipping point was but it was some scene. It switched my brain into a different mode and suddenly I couldn't stop chuckling at how ridiculous the whole thing was. I guess it took a while to grasp fully.

Anyway, once that switch occured I was much happier with the film. If I watched it again I'm sure I could see the whole thing in that new light and have much more fun. With the never-ending list of movies on my watchlist though I probably won't get to it for a while. By then I'll probably have lost that alternate mindset too!

I especially liked the end as it seemed the most hilarious and dark way to go. In games there is a phenomenon that is often called a "bad end". There probably is for movies too but I'm not as involved in the film world. Either way, a "bad end" is usually the ending you get in a game if you've made all the wrong choices (although you don't know you made them necessarily). In the film the ending was perfect. If you weren't thinking with the mindset of the movie you might not even know what it meant. I got it though, and laughed.