Dogtooth (2009)

The so-called Greek "weird wave" has made quite the splash (forgive the water related pun) across the international cinema circuit. Until now, the only film I had seen from this new movement was A Dog's Dream (a film I very much enjoyed, check out my full thoughts here), but aside from a few elements in common, it really did not prepare me for this one. Dogtooth is about three teenage siblings whose parents have taken protecting them from the outside world to the ultimate extreme. They live in a large, white house, and never set foot off the grounds. Their world is entirely constructed by what their parents have chosen to tell them, and often it is blatant misinformation (cats are child-eaters, zombies are dandelions, keyboard is vagina, and so on). But in order to satisfy their son's sexual desires, the dad brings home the security guard at the industrial plant he works at to educate him in the ways of coitus. Naturally, it is not long before the two sisters decide that they want in on the fun, and hell breaks loose. I really cannot say I liked this movie. It is saturated in that kind of ultra self-conscious, quirky, wink-wink, Wes Anderson-esque style that has so come to dominate mainstream art-cinema. The narrative is cryptic for the sake of being cryptic, and the plot does not so much develop as instead things just kind of happen. And, of course, there is the random graphic violence that is supposed to be profound. This is not to say there were not things I liked about this one; the overall look of the film recalls the stark, ultra-modern alienation of Antonioni (especially the stylized industrial zone), but it just becomes to onerous. The ideas are muddled and confused; the parents wish to protect their children from the dangers of the world, and the dad beats one of the daughters for watching a movie, but they then set up the son in an incestuous relationship with one of his sisters. Greek cinema has always been on the periphery of the mainstream, and it seemed to me this film was made as an attempt to try and make a film that would be accepted by the critical establishment and audiences.