Dogman, ideal for dog lovers

“When a man is in trouble, God sends them a dog”, a beautiful phrase by Alphonse De Lamartinecon which begins the French film ‘Dogman’, by French director Luc Besson.

The film, starring Caleb Landry Jones as Douglas Munrow and Jojo T. Gibbs as psychologist Evelyn, tells the story of a man whose childhood was affected by his father's and brother's mistreatment of him and the dogs they kept for clandestine fights, and the complicity born between the boy and the dogs who will be his family and henchmen at all times.

“I always liked disguises, it's what you do when you don't know who you are, right?”, is another of the phrases to highlight in this feature film, very well acted by the protagonist, who won the award for best actor at the Cannes Film Festival in 2021, for the film ‘Nitram’.

The film is built from interviews of the protagonist Douglas with the psychiatrist Evelyn, a woman who is also burdened with his personal problems. Douglas will be recalling his tortuous childhood past, the reasons for some jewelry thefts, aggressions of his dogs ordered by him, and his physical and emotional difficulties.

There is clearly in the film the animalistic pretext as a basis of salvation. Dozens of dogs who live with Douglas to stop gangsters who are extorting money from the neighborhood and several carefully choreographed, surprising and hilarious canine action scenes.

But they never end up being parody because what stands out is the “pain”, a word that is uttered on more than one occasion.

Overall, it is a very good film recommended for all animal lovers who like “Joker” style drama.

With a soundtrack featuring songs by Edith Piaff, Miles Davis, ZZ top and Eurythmics.

“The only flaw of dogs is that they trust humans”, reflects the protagonist, a phrase so true and that makes me remember what Pablo Neruda wrote in ‘Ode to dogs’, where he writes: ”The dog asks me and I don't answer. He jumps, runs in the field and asks me without speaking and his eyes are two wet questions, two liquid flames that interrogate me and I don't answer, I don't answer because I don't know, I can't do anything”.

And I would add the phrase, of my authorship, “Who has not had a dog, does not know what true love is”.