White God (2015)

Too much of everything

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

The TV channel showing this described it as a 'drama' and a quick check of the IMDb score of 6.9 convinced me to at least give it a go. I tend not to look much further than that so as to minimise preconceptions, although with hindsight I wish I'd noticed that the IMDb genre also made mention of fantasy and horror, which ain't my thing. It starts not unpromisingly as a teen girl and her beloved dog are thrust upon her father by his ex-wife while she flies off for some extended work project abroad. The mongrel (there are a few references to its race) is unwelcome to Dad and his apartment administrator and is kicked out to fend for itself on the streets. A rather confusing couple of hours ensued watching an unconvincing tale of animal abuse and revenge. I grew increasingly dismayed as the father/daughter story, which had potential, was overshadowed by the 'fantasy' and 'horror' elements in the dog's story. I even mistook it for (unfunny) comedy at first (I often struggle to know if a scene is meant to inspire horror or laughter). I guess the dog's the star and if you like your animals imbued with human qualities and taking the lead role, this may be for you. Even so, the story itself lacks any real drama and disappoints at just about every turn, taking the most obvious/ridiculous, but not the most interesting. There are so many scenes of inconsequence that it begs the question whether it needs 2 hours. 10-15 mins would probably do the trick.

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.)

I might as well say this upfront: it is extremely likely you won't make it through White God. An early scene where the main character's father slaughters a cow, guts and all, seems to exist simply to nauseate and warn the viewer before it gets to the realistic animal abuse.But if you can keep with it, White God will leave a mark on you.After Lili's father forcibly throws out her dog, Hagen, the dog is forced to survive on the streets, getting thrown between abusive people until he snaps and releases a shelter's worth of dogs, leading to the film's memorable climax.This is the kind of movie that spends a lot of time on dogs having serious moments. It's the kind of thing that sets itself up for failure, but works so well. Simple scenes like Hagen trying to cross a busy road, lying on a couch, or running down a road carry a lot of emotional power. I don't think it's fair to say that Body/Luke, the dogs playing Hagen, are good actors, but there is plenty of faith by the director that they can carry a scene, and they can, managing to keep up the movie's serious tone that feels like Homeward Bound remade for hard realism.But then the movie's climax hits and the tone changes, becoming more like a horror movie. And with Hagen's shift played throughout the movie, he is a perfect horror monster. He's frighteningly good at killing and maiming, while also never losing the viewers' sympathy. This sets up for the final scene between Lili and her fallen dog, which will very likely resonate with any dog-lover as much as the hard violence and abuse does.The movie does have a couple flaws. The camera-work, especially in the earlier parts, is overly shaky and made me nauseous at times. Every scene seems to have been filmed on a hand-held camera and it's hard to watch. Lili's plot line in the movie also feels like it's missing something. The young actress does a fine job, but she's left to do little but wander around aimlessly until Hagen shows up again. A good portion of her scenes could've been cut out without negatively affecting the movie.White God is a hard sell, but for those who make it through, it will have been worth it.

This movie was a tricky one, because everyone cannot understand and everyone cannot enjoy it. In this modern world, the computer graphics are easily available to illude the audience, so who would still use the silly old practical trickery in a film making. Must have been the hard work to manage plenty of the dogs during the shooting. But I believe there are hardly any major CGI works other than the bluescreen works. If you get the movie, then that's fine, if not, you may get some ideas through this review. Before proceeding I just want to alert the readers the review might contain some spoilers which is not measured.The Hungary's entry for the last concluded Oscars. The movie talks about a girl Lili in her early teenage, aspiring musician and her mixed breed dog name Hagen. When a circumstance forces them apart, the individual life journey begins for both of them. The girl becomes rebellious towards her father and the dog towards the human society like a piece of iron bar pulled away from the magnet. Will they unite again? Is the rest of the story with the breathtaking second half.This dark fantasy (like dark comedy) film was like the old days, like the black and white beast or the monster films similar to 'King Kong' and others, where animals can think like humans, execute like humans, but still not a fairytale nor the science fiction. Because sci-fi applies theoretical probabilities, animal psychology et cetera, while fairytale is a magic. It will come between sci-fi and fantasy, most likely an adult version of the fantasy tale. Comparing it with 'Birds' is one hundred per cent not agreeable, because unlike the dogs, the birds' behaviours were unknown. But 'Conquest of the Planet of the Apes' was the closest one, and you can compare Caesar with Hagen.It does not end there, I believe you all have seen the last year's genuinely written screenplay 'Lucy'. You may wonder why this comparison, because this film is about dogs, yet the title strangely pronounced as 'God'. What I understood was that Hagen was drugged with cocaine (white powder) like the blue powder in the other film and he started to change his personality. So that explains the coke was the 'White God' and the rest follows the story of revenge, leadership and ultimately the revolution."It's hard to lose someone you love. Things don't work out the way we imagined."Off the record: Most of us know that the dogs are derived from the wolves. Yet they have lost the freedom compared to a few centuries ago who walked freely on the human streets. Every dog must have a master/owner or it will be put to sleep rather keeping and feeding them forever in the dog pound. So I think dogs are suffering more than the apes and they deserved the revolution (according to this film).Animal abuse was highlighted in the movie. The story was descended from there and what happens if they takeover us is the movie's view. One of the weirdest movie of the year, but different and good. If you ever had a dog, you will know they were adorable, even in the violent scenes. Because they were just playing, but that does not the case for children and those who never been with dogs. Every shot that had dogs were cleverly achieved, the outcome was very convincing.I have heard the crew used two brothers for the Hagen role. They both were awesome, equals to any main human characters from the movie. Another 250 mixed-breed stray dogs were participated in the film making and later most of them were adopted. Believe me the movie was a good one, but some people had a hard time accepting the oddity of the theme. It won a couple of awards at Cannes film festival, including one for the Hagen's character performance.The Hungarian film industry to make into the international level, they should take the cue from this success and must bring the sequel with a broader cast. Nowadays, experimental movies like this are welcomed by the moviegoers around the globe. Definitely, an interesting story with the striking scenes and dialogues would make everyone turn toward the eastern Europe. Obviously I recommend this one, but never expect the style of Hollywood, it had approached its own way to give a pleasing movie.8/10