Dogman

Marcello Fonte is superb as the nuanced, buscemi-ish underdog carrying the literally back-breaking burden of loyalty and friendship in this darkly comic, violent tale of the quest for respect. Sublime photography and production design here but I was left hoping for a little more sweeter justice at the end.

This is a small but lovely and dark Italian gem. Its such a stylish and well-told story. It feels so iconic and classic and the two leading actors give exceptional and unique performances. I felt invested from the very first minute and the whole movie had a dark charm and told a not-so-important, but thrilling story. There are some elements, like the quirky performance of the leading actor and the impressive storytelling that make this film kind of exceptional. 8/10 Watch it

At first, "Dogman" tricks you into thinking it is just the usual parable of the oppressor and the oppressed, but as the story progresses, it reveals itself as an equally brutal, ambiguous and fascinating reflection on human instincts and drives. In the end, is it the story of a man who failed to tame the beast? Or is it the story of a beast who kept being loyal to the wrong man until he was inevitably forced to respond to his instincts and finally bite back?

This movie is a portrait of the consequences of making bad decisions in your life despite the fact that you are very lucky.

It is a film with a difficult plot to capture, it is more complex than it is believed. The film very well exposes the main character's reasons that lead him to act that way, it states that sometimes we do not realize what we have and that we do not value it enough, it teaches us that we can make very stupid decisions that affect things that matter to us and that our greed can blind our judgment, hurting ourselves. The film has good acting, good photography, good script, and good production design. The negative aspects are the lack of development of some characters and lack of development explanation of how the protagonist begins to commit illegalities.

With a complex plot, the film manages to expose its message and portray the feelings that a person can have when making poor decisions.

It's very understandable that so many reviewers of this film make a statement that they can't recommend this film to anyone. It's almost an orgy of sado-masochism, where a little humble man with a daughter making his living on taking care of dogs is harassed by the supreme local bully, who terrorizes the entire district, an almost surrealistic desolation of a human slum district in the Naples area, that just couldn't be more dreary. He tries in vain to compromise with the bully by serving him, which he never should have done in the first place, because it only worsens the trouble. The final settlement is a grotesque monstrosity of a disposal vying with the most atrocious finales of Visconti in explicit realism. The case of Marcello is and will always remain a puzzle, why did he at all try to compromise with such an obvious criminal maniac, you just don't compromise with terrorists, which will only eventually turn you one of them. The film is horribly realistic all the way, and it's difficult to see that anything good could come out of it, and we never learn what trials Marcello will encounter next.