The below is a re-post of an earlier review, when this film played the Miami Film Festival
I should think that dyed-in-the-wool dog lovers will cream their jeans over
LOS REYES, the new film from
Bettina Perut (below, left) and
Iván Osnovikoff (below, right).
Los reyes translates to
the kings and is the name of the oldest skate park in Santiago, Chile. Viewers of this new documentary, however, may rightfully imagine that the name applies to the two stars of the film: Fútbol (above, left) and Chola (above, right), the two stray dogs who have made their permanent home in the park.
The canines seems to have worked out a kind of peace with the many skateboarders who zip and zag around them in the park, and the two animals are the major subjects of this rather amazing movie. The filmmaking team shows the dogs but tells us nothing about them, and this refusal to anthropomorphize the pair in any way is welcome and smart.
Other than ambient sounds, the only dialog we hear is that of the young people who frequent the park and chat to each other about their lives. We barely see these humans but we do hear their oddball and sometimes sad stories of families in disarray, discord and drugs -- into which everything from class, economics and personal responsibility come into play.
All the while the cameras focus on the dogs -- at rest and play, barking, jumping, chasing, panting, even occasionally humping (we see a few other dogs throughout the film, but the focus is almost constantly on Chola and the increasingly aging Fútbol).
And -- oh, boy -- do our filmmakers love unusual close-ups and camera angles. I suspect you will not have seen the doggie sights anywhere else that you will see here (an insect resting on our canine's canine). We view their faces, yes, but also their paws, eyes and snouts. These are "mug shots" like no other.
The juxtapositioning of visuals and dialog makes a very strange combination, one that differentiates the animal world from the human in ways you won't previously have experienced. And this separation seems somehow necessary -- and salutary.
The park itself is at one point repainted and made ready for some kind of event. Along the way we get the sense that the young park goers we hear are somehow growing up a bit. And that the older dog, Fútbol, is declining. The shots we see of insect symbiosis with the older dog is near-shocking but very strange and even oddly moving. Nature in the raw.
Without, I hope, doing too much anthropomorphizing here, it seems to me that the filmmakers allow us to experience loss and grief via the remaining Chola. And this short scene may be enough to break the heart of even the toughest of dog lovers.
Los Reyes is something to see and experience.
Distributed via
Grasshopper Film, the documentary, a co-production of Chile and Germany running just 77 minutes, opens today at
Film Forum in New York City and will hit another seven cities soon. Click
here then scroll down to click on
Where to Watch for a view of all currently scheduled playdates/cities/theaters.
2 comments:
There is one thing stray dogs are busy with: looking for food. Alas, there is only one short scene in which we see a dog eating, in this instance being fed by a teenage boy. It's also the only scene in which we see a dog interacting with a human. This although the young humans we hear in the background are as regular to the park as are the dogs.
With two key elements of dog life missing - food and interaction with humans - the film feels strangely unreal - an artsy project that happens to focus on dogs - because dog films are so popular?
Sure, I loved the close-ups and the two dog characters, but still left the cinema with an empty feeling and the question if the death of the dog Futbol was a convenient event to create a much needed dramatic arc. A visit to the vet when Futbol needed it might have left the film without a neat ending ...
Hey, Jay-- thanks so much for your thoughtful (and somewhat review-rocking) comments. These are worth considering. Re the food/interaction-with-humans problem: If these dogs must look after themselves, as it seems they must, that food and interaction w/humans problem seems to me not so major. Even if dogs are programmed to love and serve humans, their ability to take care of themselves when necessary would override all else, right?
And while a trip to the vet might have prevented Futbol's death, if the dog was very old, as it seemed, maybe not. And if the filmmakers' job is to document rather than create and/or change things, then they have done their job as they see it. (I don't know what I'd have done in that situation.)
You are right, of course: death always brings the dramatic arc to "neat" close. Anyway, you certainly have made me rethink the movie and its methods, though I am inclined to go with my initial instincts about the worth of the film. But perhaps giving us a few more short moments of watching the dogs foraging/eating might have been worthwhile. Again, thanks for posting!
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