I haven’t fully understood the idea of protecting a child from the ways of the world. From censorship to home schooling, protecting children from the bowels of society seems prudent. This is especially true when you consider that the good influences typically outweigh the bad. Yet, some parents restrict children in a way that stunts their mental and emotional growth. Once released to the world at large, the sheltered don’t have the tools to survive. This is symbolically evident when a wild animal is domesticated and released back into the bosom of mother nature. Through the domestication process, the animal is stripped of its natural sensibilities to survive in what can be a chaotic world. Once out on their own, the animal falls victim to sheltered tendencies. Of course, this doesn’t mean that those who are home schooled or restricted from seeing certain kind of content are always unadjusted, but there is certainly the chance that a wholesome upbringing may in fact be counter productive. Taking this notion to an extreme level is the Greek film Dogtooth, which was just recently nominated for the Best Foreign Film Oscar.
The tale of Dogtooth is filled with hilarious turns of reality and sharp, uncomfortable satire. The film, directed by Yorgos Lanthimos, revolves around an unnamed family that lives a fabricated life. The patriarch of the family, let’s just call him “Father”(Christos Stergioglou), runs his own business in what appears to be a factory. His entrepreneurial efforts must be paying dividends as he has his own gated complex in a desolate spot in Greece. Within the gated home is Father’s greatest achievement: he has successfully housed in his three children, all of which are entering adulthood. Just as nameless as their father, the trio is comprised of two females, one in her later twenties (Aggeliki Papoulia) and the other entering her twenties (Mary Tsoni), and one male (Christos Passalis) who also seems to be entering his twenties. After years of hard work, Father has convinced his children that beyond their house lies a scary world. More specifically, he convinces them that cats are man eating animals and airplanes that fly over are actually toys that fall from the sky. To further his reconstruction of reality, Father has even altered words and their distinctions. One prime example of this is the children thinking the word keyboard is a title for their genitalia. According to their father, the only way the children can leave this prison is when their dogtooth (canine) falls out.
Afraid of the world making indecent human beings of his children, Father has corrupted reality and constructed a seemingly new planet within the confines of his home. Much of the film’s humor comes from the ridiculousness of his world’s altered state. One particular scene revolving around the family’s excitement over hearing that their mother is going to give birth to a dog is hilarious. Yet, such humor is overshadowed by shocking behavior that strikes a serious tone. The destruction of a meticulous world begins when Father, in an attempt to squelch his son’s growing sexual urges, brings in a female security guard to feed his son’s needs. It works well initially, but the eldest daughter’s urge to fulfill her curiosity, as well as the security guard’s extracurricular activities, leads to an assortment of scenes revolving around incest, violence, and licking as a means of currency. To say all of these points form a concrete plot would be an overstatement. There is indeed a thread pulling every scene together, but it’s a thin one as each scene aims to out shock the one before it. It all leads to an ending that is as somber as it is ambiguous as Father’s carefully constructed reality gains a new demented edge amidst tragedy.
Using a clean, white canvas and accentuating a voyeuristic feel, Lanthimos gives us an achingly alienating vibe. This morbid tone is one that is heightened by the surreal nature of the kid’s reality. A lot of credit must be given to Lanthimos for having the testicular fortitude to create a film that relishes in the absurd and taboo. The same can be said for all of the actors on hand who are clearly invested in the film’s message as they are often requested to behave in ways that contradict social norms. As provocative as the film can be, often its premise and message don’t warrant the film’s scant 90 minute run time. With a little more substance and plot driven moments, the film would cease to feel like it’s stretching from one shocking moment to the next. Perhaps, it would’ve been better served in a shorter format. In spite of the film’s inability to totally justify the time it spends on screen, its abrasive nature has a “can’t help but look” appeal to it that always makes it captivating. Yes, it’s outlandish satire, but the film’s message of sheltering the young from the influences of the world is quite on point. Even more so when we consider that the most dangerous aspect of the world isn’t living in it, but hiding from it.
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