This movie was describe as some super dystopic thing, but what it really is, is a strange and uninteresting crossover between Disney dog movies like Homeward Bound, and actually dystopian films (but realistic) like Okja. This movie hits neither marks - it's not some cute kids movie with animals, and it's not a thought provoking dystopian film.
This movie hit me as someone trying to fit as many plotlines as possible into one movie.
You follow a teen girl who has problems with her father and plays in an orchestra (I don't know what that has to do with anything since I was unable to finish the film). You have something about crossbreed dogs being taxed or banned, while "hungarian breeds" (oh, the many many hungarian dog breeds) aren't (but just where the dad lives? Apparently not everywhere? Why did the kid bring her dog if her dog wasn't allowed in the city? Are cross-breeds allowed in the countryside? Does the kid normally live outside of Hungary??). You have the dog being left outside, and street dogs doing their thing. You have some sort of statement (?) with the father working in a slaughterhouse and approving animals for slaughter (?).
On some level, all of this mixes together in what seems like ordinary life. Okay. Congrats for "boring realism", only "boring realism" isn't a genre I want to watch.
After watching half the movie, my wife and I were asking ourselves what the point was. Were cross-breed dogs supposed to be a parallel with refugees? That seems racist on it's own, and it also falls flat, because a teen girl wouldn't bring her pet refugee to stay at her dad's. Is it supposed to be a statement about animal cruelty? That would make more sense, but then what's the point of the whole plotline with halfbreeds being taxed and all?
Sadly, this flic was too dull for us to keep on watching and see if the movie does have a point (it's a long movie!).
About the cinematography also, we can see it was influenced by the 2000's trope about having shaky hand-held style cam for everything. Thank god that trope is over. In this movie you have this kind of shaky cam for EVERYTHING. Shots like the girl sitting down in a calm and quiet room. Shaky cam in that kind of shot doesn't add action or drama, it just makes you a bit queezy. Shaky cam for bike shots, dog running shots, dogs outside shots, sure, justified. For shots at home, quiet shots, etc? Nope. And this hand held shaky came is present nonstop. Yikes.
This movie hit me as someone trying to fit as many plotlines as possible into one movie.
You follow a teen girl who has problems with her father and plays in an orchestra (I don't know what that has to do with anything since I was unable to finish the film). You have something about crossbreed dogs being taxed or banned, while "hungarian breeds" (oh, the many many hungarian dog breeds) aren't (but just where the dad lives? Apparently not everywhere? Why did the kid bring her dog if her dog wasn't allowed in the city? Are cross-breeds allowed in the countryside? Does the kid normally live outside of Hungary??). You have the dog being left outside, and street dogs doing their thing. You have some sort of statement (?) with the father working in a slaughterhouse and approving animals for slaughter (?).
On some level, all of this mixes together in what seems like ordinary life. Okay. Congrats for "boring realism", only "boring realism" isn't a genre I want to watch.
After watching half the movie, my wife and I were asking ourselves what the point was. Were cross-breed dogs supposed to be a parallel with refugees? That seems racist on it's own, and it also falls flat, because a teen girl wouldn't bring her pet refugee to stay at her dad's. Is it supposed to be a statement about animal cruelty? That would make more sense, but then what's the point of the whole plotline with halfbreeds being taxed and all?
Sadly, this flic was too dull for us to keep on watching and see if the movie does have a point (it's a long movie!).
About the cinematography also, we can see it was influenced by the 2000's trope about having shaky hand-held style cam for everything. Thank god that trope is over. In this movie you have this kind of shaky cam for EVERYTHING. Shots like the girl sitting down in a calm and quiet room. Shaky cam in that kind of shot doesn't add action or drama, it just makes you a bit queezy. Shaky cam for bike shots, dog running shots, dogs outside shots, sure, justified. For shots at home, quiet shots, etc? Nope. And this hand held shaky came is present nonstop. Yikes.