White God

White God begins with an almost hallucinatory shot: a young girl bicycles down the empty, cobble stoned streets of Budapest. Then, rounding a corner, is a pack of dogs, chasing after her. It's a flash forward, and what kind of story could lead us to that moment?

It turns out to be a unique one, a film that is unlike anything I've ever seen before, though it may remind you of many others, whether it be Lassie, Come Home, Spartacus, or Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.

Directed by Kornél Mundruczó, White God is something of a fantasy, but so firmly grounded in reality it seems authentic. It tells the story of that girl, Zsófia Psotta, who has been sent to live with her father after her mother and stepfather, academics, are going on a long trip. She has a dog, Hagen, who is a mutt, which is frowned upon in Hungary apparently, as they are taxed and sneered at. The father wants nothing to do with the dog, so Psotta takes him to school, where she plays trumpet in the orchestra. The dog disrupts the rehearsal, though, so the father leaves the dog on the street.

We then bounce back and forth between Psotta's search for the dog to Hagen's experiences. He is hunted by dogcatchers, then sold to a man who trains fighting dogs. He wins his first fight, but runs away, and is eventually caught and sent to a shelter. The operator determines he is too mean to be adopted, and plans for him to be put down. But before that happens Hagen attacks his keeper and escapes, taking the whole pack with him. They wreak havoc on the city, with Hagen hunting down and exacting revenge on those who wronged him.

Again, this is not realistic. Dogs, as intelligent as they are, aren't capable of this kind of planning. At times it seems as if it were a long commercial for PETA, and anyone who likes dogs will feel a thrill as he takes care of those who were vicious to him or other dogs.

The work of the dogs, trained by Theresa Miller, is fantastic. There are some very memorable moments, such as when Hagen has defeated his opponent and stands over his bleeding foe. Or, the image in the poster, when Psotta plays her trumpet and calms the beasts.

White God (I'm not sure of the significance of the title) is a strange and marvelous film, and will make you think a little bit when you see a stray dog. Don't mistreat it, or it could come back to bite you in the ass.