203. The Dog Who Wouldn't Be Quiet (El perro que no calla); movie review

THE DOG WHO WOULDN'T BE QUIET (EL PERRO QUE NO CALLA)

Cert TBA

73 mins

BBFC advice: TBA 

I licked my lips like a hound who knows that a tasty bone is about to be offered.

Ana Katz's The Dog Who Wouldn't Be Quiet was bound to be good because it scores 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, the aggregator site for film reviews.

Even the very best movies seldom hit full marks but critics were as one and it even had won awards to go with its acclaim. Surely, I wouldn't disagree with all of them, would I?

Well, on this occasion, yes. My tastebuds found this morsel rather dry if I'm honest.

Katz shot her film over several years, focusing on a central figure, played by her brother Daniel.

Daniel is a gentle, shy man who appears to be out of alignment with the demands of society.

First of all, we see him listening sympathetically to his neighbours who are complaining that his beloved dog cries when he leaves him to go to work.

Consequently, he tries taking him to the office and his babbling boss (Valeria Lois) gives him the ultimatum of getting rid of the dog or have to quit his job.

Then he drifts off to work in the country, appears to be without work and possibly homeless and ends up living with his mother.

Oh, and in between all of the above there is an apocalypse when a space fragment hits the earth and some folk, our hero included, go around with goldfish bowls on their heads, presumably to avoid the radiation fall-out.

Actually, I have connected a few dots there because nothing is too clear in Katz's surreal film.

And yet, it is quite clear that I must have been missing something because the world and its dog keep telling me so.

Reasons to watch: Acclaimed movie

Reasons to avoid: Surreal to the point of incomprehensible

Laughs: None

Jumps: None

Vomit: None

Nudity: None

Overall rating: 3/10

Did you know? Brazilians have more than 52 million dogs, according to the IBGE federal statistics institute -- exceeding the number of children under 14 years old in Latin America’s largest economy.

The final word. Ana Katz: "It’s a film that comes from an emotional intuition more than a rational thought. I feel that human beings can adapt too easily to a system which is very complex and very cruel.  The initial idea was to tell a story about a man — and this is my first time telling a story closely about a man — who society avoids or rejects. It’s a man who has a special sensibility." Seventh Row

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