White God

At first it seems like a children's movie, but then it becomes too dark. It's a well made movie. The girl's acting is good.

It can be useful for us to reflect on the treatment we have with our pets or with animals in general.

The opening and closing shots of White God are beautiful and powerful realizations of Director Kornél Mundruczó's allegorical horror/thriller vision. Unfortunately, much of the movie does not meet this lofty ideal.

White God tells the story of Lili who is forced by her hard-hearted father to leave her dog, Hagen, on the streets to fend for himself. As Hagen falls into a cycle of abuse and abandonment, Lili becomes more independent and forgets about him. Hagen retaliates against his human oppressors by leading his fellow shelter-dogs in an apocalyptic revolution.

Let's get one thing out of the way first: the fact that this movie was shot entirely with real dogs and practical effects is simply masterful. The angry canine horde is the most terrifying group of animals since The Birds, but Mundruczó works very hard to keep the audience sympathetic towards them. Animal Trainer Teresa Ann Miller deserves some sort of award for convincingly training over 200 dogs to convey such a wide breadth of emotion. Although I cringed seeing scenes of abuse and dog-fighting, "they were always happy, and just playing," said Mundruczó to Fangoria magazine.

Unfortunately, the acting of the dogs is by far the best acting in the movie. The actress who plays Lili does this annoying pursed-lip thing that will make you want to smack her through the screen. Lili's father remains a contemptible a** to the very end. Even the evil dog trainer, despite having the most well-scripted character, couldn't be more two-dimensional if he had a mustache to twirl.

To make matters worse, the only parts of the movie that are any good are those with Hagen. Lili's story is droll beyond belief and just feels like a distraction from Hagen. I wish that I could have read this movie as an allegory about man's abuse of animals or as a metaphor for how easily the middle class forget about the poor. Unfortunately, the tediousness of Lili's story, which was obviously written in after Hagen's, kept distracting me from the movie's emotional and philosophical core. When the movie should have been showing similarities between Lili and Hagen, it often simply drove their stories further apart.

Now, don't get me wrong, this was definitely a "good" movie. I would consider it required viewing for fans of horror and suspense. As a dog-lover, Hagen's story really hit the emotional nail on the head. Mundruczó's ambitious vision is, in itself, highly commendable. It is unfortunate that a few poor directorial choices kept this movie from becoming the masterpiece it deserved to be.

Maybe an American remake will fix some of these problems? Probably not...

A strange day in the life from a dogs perspective Luke and Boy play a dog who accompanies a girl to stay with her father while her mother's away. Hardship hits when Lili's new environment is not dog friendly.

It's like the movie Homeward Bound. LiLi and the dog get separated and he attempts to find his way back to her, but it's far from Disney story telling as the dog deals with animal catchers who feel more like crooked cops, the dog pound that acts like a prison, and an underground dog fighting circuit that feels like an early Jean Claude Van Damme movie.

It's action pack, horrifying, dramatic, and touching all at the same time And though a movie from an animal's perspective is not new, it's never been done it such an adult matter.

Thumbs up

Do you like dogs? Well, there are a lot of them. A story that is sort of allegorical in that the dogs' behavior, which was instilled by their masters (White Gods), is turned against these gods as the dogs become like humans - capable of loyalty, devotion, but also of hate, rage, killing.

I thought some of the roles (dogs or humans) were a little too over-the-top not believable to get emotionally involved. We have bad - parents, merchants, musical conductor, animal control specialists, dog trainers. As for the dogs, although well trained, seemed too well trained.

Storyline is simple. We have a girl, independent beyond her age, roaming the streets at night searching for her lost dog. She finds her dog, but it has changed for the worse. Can it be saved?

White God if one of those achievement can only be done outside USA. Working with real dogs instead of digital effects; this movie is a cautionary tale about rejection, lack of communication, discrimination and its effects and consequences. Lili owns and loves a half breed dog called Hagen. Her mother planning three month trip with his new boyfriend; send her to live with her father; Daniel; a sour and frustrated man that rejects the dogs from the first moment. Lili try to take the dog with her everywhere but many people complain; including a messy neighbor who calls the dog catcher's.

Adding to the problem that Hungary's law has a tax on half free dogs; and Daniel refuse to pay it because his ex-wife did not do it either. In a moment of anger; Daniel left the dog on the street and Hagen has to find his way back.

The world surrounding the streets is far from idyllic. Hagen meets other dogs and somewhat befriends them; but dog catchers appears and capture many dogs. Hagen escapes but is captured by a dog fighter trainer who trains him and soon becomes a violent and salvage dog.

After killing another dog; Hagen escapes again; but is captured by the dog catchers who seeing him hurt; decide to kill him. Hagen who already demonstrated how intelligent and perceiving is; attack the human and release other dogs (hundreds of them) and go on killing spree around the city attacking humans who tortured them putting the city under curfew and creating chaos.

The most outstanding, compelling and moving performance is Hagen itself; played by two dogs; really Oscar deserving.

The rest of the cast; specially the 12 years old Zsófia Psotta as Lili are incredible good in a character quite strong, trying to be adult but still too young to be by herself. Everyone of her moments in screen is captivating.

In brief; a very intense movie; with a little but necessary gore worth seeing even in video.