2023-08-31 19:52:45
The new film from the director of ‘Lucy’ is a display as confusing and disproportionate as it is strangely hypnotic and naive
“The only two things that can save you are love and art, definitely not money”, with these words the millionaire French director and producer introduced himself to the press conference in Venice and, in his own way, they found the best definition. of ‘Dogman‘, his last and disproportionate work. Or, seen from another point of view, perhaps the first. Keep in mind that it is about the return, after the dismissed accusation of rape, of a man whose last two works (‘Anna’ and ‘Valerian and the city of a thousand planets’) ended up devoured perhaps in a not entirely fair way by that bipolar monster that is failure. That is to say, ‘Dogman‘ is, strictly speaking, more of an act of faith than a simple movie.
But not only that, it is also an exercise in cinema that is as bombastic as the opening statement itself and, at the same time, blatantly naive (if not populist, taking into account the record of the person who pronounces it). In short, it is impossible not to be swept away, even if only a little, by the impudence of a director who approaches each of his productions as if the world were about to stop turning. It is the last, but, in truth, it counts as the first, we said.
‘Dogman’ tells the story of a young man who, as one of the innumerable anti-heroes at odds with society and Besson’s good manners, takes refuge among dogs. Like a new version of Mowgli, but instead of in the jungle and among wolves, in the middle of the city and sharing a bed with stray dogs. But this is only the starting point. In truth, the film is all symbol. Or metaphor even. About what? That is another question. The character played by Caleb Landry Jones with a ‘brandonesque’ dedication he was, first, a boy mistreated by his father and brother; then, a young orphan despised by his great love; later, a cross-dressing lip-synching performer who knows Shakespeare by heart; in the meantime, a thief with the help of his friends, the dogs from before, and, finally, a vigilante of the night ready for the bloodiest revenge.
If it sounds a little exaggerated for a Friday morning (or in the afternoon, it doesn’t matter), think that, in truth, this has only just begun. One more fact: the entire tape is narrated through a puzzle of ‘flashbacks’ that the subject in question tells a psychiatrist who, by the way, also drags her own. And so.
It is impossible, half an hour into the film, to avoid the idea that you are looking at the greatest nonsense ever imagined. Please note that the tone is neither comedy, farce, parody, performance or contemporary opera. Everything is an indefinable and runaway melodrama tinged with a ‘thriller’ that is not alien to children’s cinema (because of how affectionate the dogs are) or, in a hurry, the musical (it is even sung). However, this is like getting used to the dark. As ‘Dogman’ progresses and one becomes accustomed to its schizophrenic script (the palindromic game between God –Dios– and Dog –perro– approaches the ‘end’), one begins to realize that the grace is in the unpredictable, in that very Besson capacity of mix the pompous and naive with a frightening self-confidence. We have arrived.
Definitely, money is not important. Too bad that almost everything important (including time, art and the very possibility of loving) is bought with money. Beson is back. And start again.
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