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Editorial Reviews
Review
[An] ingenious and shockingly blunt satire. --Time Out (London)
The most original, challenging, and perverse film of the year so far. --Village Voice
By far the most original film Ive seen in a long time. --John Waters, Director of Pink Flamingos
The most original, challenging, and perverse film of the year so far. --Village Voice
By far the most original film Ive seen in a long time. --John Waters, Director of Pink Flamingos
Product Description
Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Film, Dogtooth is a darkly surreal look at three teenagers confined to an isolated country estate and kept under strict rule and regimen by their parents - an alternately hilarious and nightmarish experiment of manipulation and oppression. Winner of the Un Certain Regard prize at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
46 of 50 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Psychological Freak Show Designed To Polarize And Disturb Its Audience
January 28, 2011
Format:DVD
Certainly one of the more surprising moments of the 2010 Academy Award nominations had to be the inclusion of the Greek oddity "Dogtooth" among the Best Foreign Film nominees. This psychological freak show seems designed to polarize audiences with its controversial presentation of an isolated family as a horror construct. The film, with relatively no political or social context, is likely to be interpreted in many ways by viewers searching for a grand significance to the proceedings. Having seen the film twice now, however, I'm not sure that I can really establish the filmmaker's true intentions with any veracity. So I won't try. Somewhere between perverse satire, bent domestic drama, and disturbing psychological horror lies the film "Dogtooth"--a challenging and unrepentantly bleak, yet undeniably gripping and fascinating, example of experimental cinema.
"Dogtooth" depicts the unorthodox life of one family. The three teenage children have been raised in a controlled environment in which they've seemingly never left the family's secluded estate. Subjected to the teaching of their parents, they know nothing of the real dangers or inherent freedoms available in the outside world. As their story unfolds, in horrifying daily detail, the complete destruction of their psyches, intelligence, and individuality at the hands of their parents is absolutely repellant. This truly is one of the more disturbing depictions of psychological torture (even if the kids don't know it!) that has ever been captured on film. Not graphically violent, but emotionally disconcerting, this film will insinuate itself into your mind--and it's absolutely unsettling. One girl, in particular, starts to act out in increasingly violent ways and, as much as we do want to protect them, kids will grow up to experience life in ways we might not have intended.
To be sure, I love to be surprised by film--the more offbeat or skewed the better. In describing a movie's narrative for others, I try to only paint a picture in broad strokes and not spoil the mysteries yet to unfold. That's why I've been purposefully vague in my description (although, there is some controversial sexual content which might offend certain viewers). With "Dogtooth," however, I might make a disclaimer. This will not be a film for everyone--those that dislike "Dogtooth" will invariably hate it with every fiber of their being! Those that like "Dogtooth," however, will be caught up in a story unlike any other. I was unable to pull my eyes away from this film. Like a disturbing nightmare, my curiosity kept me glued to the every frame of this movie. It is well acted and well made--but this is just a caution to more sensitive viewers. "Dogtooth" disturbed and confounded me, in almost every way, but I was unable to tear myself away from its sick allure. KGHarris, 1/11.
"Dogtooth" depicts the unorthodox life of one family. The three teenage children have been raised in a controlled environment in which they've seemingly never left the family's secluded estate. Subjected to the teaching of their parents, they know nothing of the real dangers or inherent freedoms available in the outside world. As their story unfolds, in horrifying daily detail, the complete destruction of their psyches, intelligence, and individuality at the hands of their parents is absolutely repellant. This truly is one of the more disturbing depictions of psychological torture (even if the kids don't know it!) that has ever been captured on film. Not graphically violent, but emotionally disconcerting, this film will insinuate itself into your mind--and it's absolutely unsettling. One girl, in particular, starts to act out in increasingly violent ways and, as much as we do want to protect them, kids will grow up to experience life in ways we might not have intended.
To be sure, I love to be surprised by film--the more offbeat or skewed the better. In describing a movie's narrative for others, I try to only paint a picture in broad strokes and not spoil the mysteries yet to unfold. That's why I've been purposefully vague in my description (although, there is some controversial sexual content which might offend certain viewers). With "Dogtooth," however, I might make a disclaimer. This will not be a film for everyone--those that dislike "Dogtooth" will invariably hate it with every fiber of their being! Those that like "Dogtooth," however, will be caught up in a story unlike any other. I was unable to pull my eyes away from this film. Like a disturbing nightmare, my curiosity kept me glued to the every frame of this movie. It is well acted and well made--but this is just a caution to more sensitive viewers. "Dogtooth" disturbed and confounded me, in almost every way, but I was unable to tear myself away from its sick allure. KGHarris, 1/11.
20 of 23 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
****1/2
What if you could be the master of your own universe, able to make everything to your own specifications and liking? And what if, in that universe, you could have absolute control over your subjects, so that, not only would they have to do what you told them to, but you could even go so far as to shape the very way they look at the world?
The unnamed middle-aged protagonist (Christos Stergioglou) of "Dogtooth" has created just such a kingdom for himself and his wife (Michelle Valley), tucked away in a rural area of Greece, where the two of them have raised their children - a boy (Christos Passalis) and two girls (Aggelika Papoulia, Mary Tsoni) who are all now in their late teens - in such complete isolation that the kids have virtually no knowledge of the world that lies beyond the fenced-in little compound in which they live. They know only that it is a dangerous and scary place and that none of them will be able to venture out into it until their dogtooth falls out - which is to say never. They are so misinformed as to how the real world actually works that they think planes are just tiny objects moving through the air, and that if one of those tiny objects were to fall out of the sky and into their yard, the children would be able to pick it up and play with it like a toy. They've also been taught by their colluding parents to believe that prowling cats are a mortal menace to be destroyed on sight. The kids spend much of the day doing repetitive chores, playing meaningless games and being taught an incorrect vocabulary (they use the word "phone" when they really mean "salt," for example). The father regularly pays a young woman (Anna Kalaitzidu) he works with - the only person from the outside world the children are allowed to meet - to come and have sex with his post-pubescent son, and severely beats the kids every time they step out of line.
A stunning allegory about the evils of totalitarianism, "Dogtooth" is somewhat reminiscent of M. Night Shyamalan's "The Village" in its basic premise and setup, only here the guiding principle seems to be less about protecting the young ones from the harsh realities of a modern world and more about this one man's finding a way to achieve a kind of apotheosis for himself - making himself a god in the eyes of his children. For not only does he make them reliant on him for all the basic necessities of life, but he's made it so that they accept without question the "truths" of the physical and moral order he's established for them to live by.
The man and his wife have together inverted and perverted the very definition of parenthood. Rather than grooming their children for an adult life in the real world, these parents deliberately infantilize their offspring, making it virtually impossible for them to leave the home and start a life of their own. This ensures that the kids will be there to take care of them for the rest of their lives.
On a broader scale, the movie is a searing indictment of the power of propaganda, showing how easy it is to mislead people and to compel them to do what one wants simply by feeding them false information and, thus, skewing their view of realty and the truth. And isn't this how totalitarian dictatorships are born and sustained? But there's also an innate desire for liberty and independence lurking in the recesses of every human soul that must finally assert itself in a desperate run for freedom, and the movie addresses that reality as well.
The movie is both raw and provocative as it takes on some rather touchy sexual themes - mainly involving incest - that some in the audience may find disturbing and discomfiting to put it mildly. There's also a fair amount of full-frontal nudity, brutal violence and more-than-simulated sex scenes in the movie.
Yorgos Lanthimos' direction is spare and stripped-down, as befits a parable, with off-kilter visual framing that heightens the bizarre nature of the piece.
"Dogtooth" is unnerving, thought-provoking and provocative - and a must-see for the unconventional, adventurous movie-watcher.
What if you could be the master of your own universe, able to make everything to your own specifications and liking? And what if, in that universe, you could have absolute control over your subjects, so that, not only would they have to do what you told them to, but you could even go so far as to shape the very way they look at the world?
The unnamed middle-aged protagonist (Christos Stergioglou) of "Dogtooth" has created just such a kingdom for himself and his wife (Michelle Valley), tucked away in a rural area of Greece, where the two of them have raised their children - a boy (Christos Passalis) and two girls (Aggelika Papoulia, Mary Tsoni) who are all now in their late teens - in such complete isolation that the kids have virtually no knowledge of the world that lies beyond the fenced-in little compound in which they live. They know only that it is a dangerous and scary place and that none of them will be able to venture out into it until their dogtooth falls out - which is to say never. They are so misinformed as to how the real world actually works that they think planes are just tiny objects moving through the air, and that if one of those tiny objects were to fall out of the sky and into their yard, the children would be able to pick it up and play with it like a toy. They've also been taught by their colluding parents to believe that prowling cats are a mortal menace to be destroyed on sight. The kids spend much of the day doing repetitive chores, playing meaningless games and being taught an incorrect vocabulary (they use the word "phone" when they really mean "salt," for example). The father regularly pays a young woman (Anna Kalaitzidu) he works with - the only person from the outside world the children are allowed to meet - to come and have sex with his post-pubescent son, and severely beats the kids every time they step out of line.
A stunning allegory about the evils of totalitarianism, "Dogtooth" is somewhat reminiscent of M. Night Shyamalan's "The Village" in its basic premise and setup, only here the guiding principle seems to be less about protecting the young ones from the harsh realities of a modern world and more about this one man's finding a way to achieve a kind of apotheosis for himself - making himself a god in the eyes of his children. For not only does he make them reliant on him for all the basic necessities of life, but he's made it so that they accept without question the "truths" of the physical and moral order he's established for them to live by.
The man and his wife have together inverted and perverted the very definition of parenthood. Rather than grooming their children for an adult life in the real world, these parents deliberately infantilize their offspring, making it virtually impossible for them to leave the home and start a life of their own. This ensures that the kids will be there to take care of them for the rest of their lives.
On a broader scale, the movie is a searing indictment of the power of propaganda, showing how easy it is to mislead people and to compel them to do what one wants simply by feeding them false information and, thus, skewing their view of realty and the truth. And isn't this how totalitarian dictatorships are born and sustained? But there's also an innate desire for liberty and independence lurking in the recesses of every human soul that must finally assert itself in a desperate run for freedom, and the movie addresses that reality as well.
The movie is both raw and provocative as it takes on some rather touchy sexual themes - mainly involving incest - that some in the audience may find disturbing and discomfiting to put it mildly. There's also a fair amount of full-frontal nudity, brutal violence and more-than-simulated sex scenes in the movie.
Yorgos Lanthimos' direction is spare and stripped-down, as befits a parable, with off-kilter visual framing that heightens the bizarre nature of the piece.
"Dogtooth" is unnerving, thought-provoking and provocative - and a must-see for the unconventional, adventurous movie-watcher.
25 of 32 people found the following review helpful
By PsyRC
Format:DVD
Spoilers herein!!
Well, this film was highly anticipated by me (it had won the un Certain Regard prize at Cannes). The message is one of enclosed despair, it mirrors what it's like to be perpetually condemned to a preverbal state, and not having the tools to deal with it. It seems that, once play can no longer sustain oneself, one must retreat to a world of sexuality and aggression. Since the eldest daughter incorporated the nameless and hopeless lifestyle imposed by her parents, she was indeed an incarnation of their nefarious deeds. The only way to break free from their rules would be to attack their rules, and this could only be accomplished by attacking herself. The scene where she knocks her tooth out with a hammer is intense and realistic, yet behind pain and destruction there is beauty, in the disfigured and bloody smile leering back from the mirror. Life could no longer go on the way it had, the incestuous nature of the family unit had reached an extreme. In a bizarre bathtub scene, the brother sits there and gropes the naked bodies of his sisters, one at a time, I imagine in an attempt to see which causes him to be more aroused. As everything else that conveys true emotion in this family, the scene transpires in uncomfortable silence, the demon of preverbal communication again casting its shadow. Born preverbal, dead preverbal, as the labyrinth of abandoned speech is manifest in the eldest daughter's aborted escape, remaining locked in the car trunk, representing in a very vivid manner that, upon mustering the desire to leave the perverted Eden in whence she dwelled, she was in effect entering her coffin.
Well, this film was highly anticipated by me (it had won the un Certain Regard prize at Cannes). The message is one of enclosed despair, it mirrors what it's like to be perpetually condemned to a preverbal state, and not having the tools to deal with it. It seems that, once play can no longer sustain oneself, one must retreat to a world of sexuality and aggression. Since the eldest daughter incorporated the nameless and hopeless lifestyle imposed by her parents, she was indeed an incarnation of their nefarious deeds. The only way to break free from their rules would be to attack their rules, and this could only be accomplished by attacking herself. The scene where she knocks her tooth out with a hammer is intense and realistic, yet behind pain and destruction there is beauty, in the disfigured and bloody smile leering back from the mirror. Life could no longer go on the way it had, the incestuous nature of the family unit had reached an extreme. In a bizarre bathtub scene, the brother sits there and gropes the naked bodies of his sisters, one at a time, I imagine in an attempt to see which causes him to be more aroused. As everything else that conveys true emotion in this family, the scene transpires in uncomfortable silence, the demon of preverbal communication again casting its shadow. Born preverbal, dead preverbal, as the labyrinth of abandoned speech is manifest in the eldest daughter's aborted escape, remaining locked in the car trunk, representing in a very vivid manner that, upon mustering the desire to leave the perverted Eden in whence she dwelled, she was in effect entering her coffin.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Got the wrong product
I hate it i got the wrong package instead i got dogfight and this product was not what I wanted
Published 7 days ago by Alex
5.0 out of 5 stars
Not to everyone's taste but brilliant
This film is definitely geared to the film connoisseur. It is nasty, poignant and even hilarious at times. Read more
Published 1 month ago by lulubelle
4.0 out of 5 stars
4.5 stars... "A zombie is a small yellow flower"
"Dogtooth" (2009 release from Greece; 94 min.) brings the disturbing yet harrowing tale of a family of 5, living in a large isolated compound somewhere in Greece. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Paul Allaer
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the best modern foreign films I've seen!
From it's opening scene until the last 15 minutes (which was really difficult to watch as it involves a dumbbell) this movie fascinates you & disgusts you all at the same time. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Justin
4.0 out of 5 stars
Disturbing and Fascinating
Whether you like it or not, "Dogteeth" will stay with you long after leaving the theater. Watching the film is like stumbling upon an unspeakable secret of someone close to you. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Tsuyoshi
5.0 out of 5 stars
This is a good movie but some details were not explained
Anyways this is a great movie but. 1. It isn't in english but it has very clear subtitles. 2. It has lots of comedy 3. Violence comes up alot and it is very unexpected. 4. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Mimi
2.0 out of 5 stars
like watching paint dry
thats how the movie came across most of the time . i wasn't really shocked by it or excited by it either. didn't see any humor in the film or much sensuality . Read more
Published 12 months ago by ROCKO MARX
2.0 out of 5 stars
With some further intelligent effort by the director, this could have...
One of those European arthouse films that has a very interesting idea. I did not find the film boring. However, the director falls in love with the idea a little bit too much. Read more
Published 14 months ago by Jackal
4.0 out of 5 stars
See what happens when you contaminate your well ordered household?
See what happens when you contaminate your well ordered household?
An extreme example of controlling parenting? Read more
An extreme example of controlling parenting? Read more
Published 17 months ago by Michael Harbour
5.0 out of 5 stars
House-Arrested Development
Dogtooth's strengths are in how it depicts and portrays an unbelievable (using the word 'dysfunctional' would be a severe understatement) family . Read more
Published 20 months ago by Myles Byrne-Dunhill
