Currently going through most of Kubrick's filmography (reviews to follow) however curry night at my mates we watched
White god
After her father abandons her dog Hagen, a young Hungarian girl begins looking for him through the city before ultimately giving up. Hagen meanwhile begins his own dark adventure through the cities underbelly experiencing the worst of human cruelty towards animals including confrontations with brutal dog wardens and some incredibly nasty (and thankfully fake) dog fighting. Brutalised and traumatised Hagen is transformed into angry ball of Furry rage and at the dog pound, as he is due for extermination he leads his fellow mutts in a revolution against the humans.
While the film is a somewhat 'artier' affair than titles like Day of the Animals, The pack or Dogs, there is still a streak of exploitation running through the film. It is essentially another nature Amok film, with broader subtexts throughout the film beyond man's inhumanity to his four legged friend. The fixation on Hagen's mixed breed suggests some level of parable about racism within Hungarian society. The title itself 'white god' suggests some nod towards this idea as it alludes to a dubious theory of ancient races being visited by Caucasian 'gods' that were actually visitors from Europe. The Spanish conquistadores were worshipped as gods on first contact by the Aztecs and a lot of fringe theorists expanded that. In white god then, the aggression and destruction wrought by the dogs in the final act is violence taught by their masters, their 'gods'. Given the recent scenes in Hungary between refugees and the state this reading may hold some weight (or I may be talking out my arse)
The film is striking to look at, and really should be seen in HD. Sadly the American blu-ray is region locked and we only get a DVD here in the UK. I would still urge people to at least check the film out however as its a really fine piece of cinema with a great score and some amazing visuals including scenes with dogs that must have been a pain to shoot.
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