Dog Man (2023) by Luc Besson

In the case of “Dogman” Luc Besson could not help but give us a “non-standard” film. Not his best film, mind you, but a film that doesn’t go unnoticed anyway. At least, if you like, for the poor scenery, for the bright colors of the photograph, but also for Douglas’s costumes and his carefully made up face. In short, this is far from a “sober” production: exactly what we have long been accustomed to expect from Parisian director’s cinema. In competition at the 80th Venice Film Festival.

man’s best friend

“Dogs are ideal creatures, but they have only one drawback: they tend to trust people.”. This is the mantra that accompanied the young and unfortunate Douglas (played by the extraordinary Caleb Landry Jones), the protagonist of the feature film dog manthe last work of the French director Luc Besson, presented as a world premiere in a competition on the occasion of80To Venice Film Festival. How to blame him? Indeed, this kind of magnetic anti-hero, now confined to a wheelchair, with whom we empathize from the very first minutes, owes all the suffering he endured to people; and in dogs, on the contrary, he found his real, only family.

Complicated story

Thus, Douglas’ story begins at the end of a chase that ends badly for the police. Once in prison, he confesses to a psychiatrist (Jojo T. Gibbs

) and slowly trace the main stages of his life, from childhood, marked by numerous manifestations of domestic violence from his father and older brother, to a long period of imprisonment (precisely at the choice of the parent) in a cage along with many fighting dogs; before the discovery, already in adulthood, of his acting talent and a series of events that will lead him into a tunnel from which it seems – alas! – hard to get out.

Is today like yesterday?

If so, in (not too) distant 2019, Todd Phillips introduced his Jokereven winning the Golden Lion and making audiences and critics fall in love with its main character (the unforgettable Joaquin Phoenix), now, just four years later, the Lido has a “doggy” and “sleepless” answer, if we want to think about it dog man. Yes, because a lot of people actually thought, watching Besson’s latest feature film, was about the Joker, who made such a splash at the Venice Film Festival and who – let’s face it – also deserved a nice Volpi Cup.

A star is (re)born

If, therefore, Joker many considered not only the film of Todd Phillips, but also – and above all – the film of Joaquin Phoenix, dog man can definitely be considered a Caleb Landry Jones film, here more intense and multifaceted than ever, to whom the director dedicates many close-ups and who at times is able to transform from a sincere confidant to a loving master with his dogs, but also – if necessary – a ruthless killer . Only after she played the role of Edith Piaf, then Marlene Dietrich, then Marilyn Monroe, really.

From the box

Luc Besson, for his part, could not help but give us the film “outside the box”. Not his best film, mind you, but a film that doesn’t go unnoticed anyway. At least, if you like, because of the squalid environment – in which the main character lived as a child and in which he lives as an adult, now finally surrounded by his many, beloved dogs – and also because of the bright colors of the photograph, but also Douglas’s costumes and her carefully painted face. In short, for the production it is not “sober” at all. As we have come to expect from a Parisian director for some time now.

Form or content?

We agree. dog manIn fact, this is far from what is called the perfect film. And besides, as mentioned, the superb protagonist, besides his special relationship with dogs and how they can do truly “extraordinary” things on command, besides the immortal music of Edith Piaf and, more generally, a musical selection, inside which real jewels are visible, unfortunately, there are not so many left. But it normal. In fact, the movie itself is undeniably gripping. It is definitely amusing. However, the very fact of fighting for the Golden Lion perhaps makes it a bit pretentious.

poster

Gallery

Form

Original name: dog man
Director: Luc Besson
Country/year: France, USA / 2023
Duration: 114′
Type: Drama, Thriller
Throw: Clemens Schick, Caleb Landry Jones, Derek Siow, Avan Strangel, Aven Kampau, Bennett Saltzman, Christopher Denham, Michael Garza, Adam Spears, Ambrit Millhouse, Bianca Melgar, Corinne Delacour, Eric Carter, Grace Palma, James Payton, Jeff Mantel, Jeremiah Figuero, John Charles Aguilar, Jojo T. Gibbs, Lincoln Powell, Luing Andrews, Marisa Berenson, Naima Hebrail Kidjo, Natalie Denise Woodard, William Sciortino
Screenplay: Luc Besson
Photo: Colin Vandersman
Assembly: Julien Rey
Music: Eric Serra
Director: Virginie Besson-Silla, Steve Rabino
Production house: Luc Besson Production, Ondamax Films
Distribution: Lucky Red

Release date: 09/28/2023

Trailer

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