When thinking of a movie about a timid dog groomer you might think of: a rom-com (in which he meets a lovely lady in his grooming salon); a drama (during which something happens to him or the animals); or maybe a real-life documentary. Well, that’s not what Dogman from director Matteo Garrone (Tale of Tales, Reality) is.
On the contrary. It’s a remarkable film like this, with jaw-dropping performances, immensely captivating and shady, and threatening cinematography about the world of drugs, violence, and murder. This movie got its world premiere during the Cannes Film Festival in 2018, and eventually would become the Italian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film. Well, here is why it deserves all the praise it could and still can get.
Not your usual dog carer.
That filmmaking is a collaborative process becomes incredibly clear when you look at the team behind the story. Seven creative minds, including the director himself, came together to write an incredible story, and if you don’t know it by now, let us tell you about it.
Marcello (performed in a great way by Marcello Fonte) is a dog trimmer by day, but by night his darker side appears. He’s a drug dealer and one of his regular clients, Simoncino, (Edoardo Pesce), keeps coming back for more. However, when he doesn’t get his next fix, he becomes violent towards Marcello and the other residents. The result? Heated feuds and tensions rising.
It reaches a point where everyone wants Simone out of the way. And when one of his burglaries in Marcello’s shop goes wrong, they might get what they want. Sadly, the police can’t find the hard evidence against Simone and instead, Marcello is being sent to jail. Not only because of all the evidence that leads to him, but also because he doesn’t deny the allegations. Which impact will imprisonment have on Marcello’s life, his relationship with his daughter, and this connection with the people from his town?
Violent but still incredibly intriguing story
Director Garrone and leading actor Fonte (Asino vola, Codice silenzioso), who’s playing Marcello, take you into the dark world where there’s always a place for violence, blood and repression. However, Dogman never becomes one of those movies in which violence rules everything, and in which the story is being pushed to the background.
No, there’s also a space for topics such as family, passion, and determination. We don’t only see Marcello as the violent man, but we also see him as the more loving, warm, and affectionate father and dog carer. There’s certainly more depth to this than what the story sounds like.
Stunning acting performances surrounded by a dark cinematography
A great story can’t be told properly if it isn’t performed impressively. Well, luckily for Garrone, he got a splendid cast. After watching Fonte’s spectacular performance, it should come as no surprise that he won the awards for Best Actor during the Film Festival of Cannes, the European Film Awards, and the International Cinephile Society Awards. He puts on an incredible performance as Marcello, who at first might seem like an innocent family man with a normal job.
However, when you take a closer look, the average man turns into a rough-tough drug dealer. Dogman is certainly not a one-man show. No, Pesce (Pure Hearts, Fortunata) is also perfectly cast for this movie. With his rough and colossal posture, Pesce gives an outstanding performance as the daunting and frightening giant whose dark life involves drugs, sex, and violence, and terrorising the whole neighbourhood.
With a dark and sinister story and intriguing and ominous performances come mysterious cinematography. Cinematographer Nicolai Brüel already brought movies like The Machine and Lost and Found impressively to life and now he does the same with Dogman. The combination of dark colours, dimmed lights, swiftly changing scenes and very remote filming location fit Dogman gorgeously well.
Bitten instantly by Dogman
Because of that special opening scene, you will be bitten instantly by Dogman. The story itself might not be everyone’s taste, but we’re pretty sure that the stunning performances and the dark cinematography will captivate you enough throughout the entire movie.
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