DOGMAN
Type: canine melodrama
Direction: Luc Besson. With Caleb Landry Jones, Jojo T. Gibbs, Christopher Denham, Clemens Schick, John Charles Aguilar, Grace Palma, Marisa Berenson
At the origin there is a true story, that of a boy who was forced by his father to live in a cage together with dogs: understanding how a human being who has suffered this type of humiliation can grow (and in the film he is spared none) is what the film wants to show and which, session after session, the protagonist will tell to a criminal psychologist to whom he has been entrusted his case (why he is in prison will be discovered little by little).
What is immediately clear, however, is which side the director (and with him the film) is on, concerned with gaining the audience’s empathy and make us understand that animals are definitely better than humans.
Caleb Landry Jones in “Dogman” by Luc Besson (photo by Shanna Besson).
The result is a decidedly over the top story, made to brazenly cheer with the humiliated and the offended and rejoice in their revenge, with a protagonist somewhere between Joker and the obese professor of The Whalewho naturally finds understanding only in those who are marginalized like him (as well as in dogs) and that the interpretation of Caleb Landry Jones, extraordinary at conveying pain and sadness that Besson loads onto the character makes it moving and unforgettable. Perfect for putting him back in the running for the Oscar.
For those who are convinced that animals are better than humans.
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