Dogtooth (Kynodontas) [2009]

Arthouse movies, which are obscure, usually tend to be frustrating to watch; but once in a while one of them turn out to be not just intruiging, but even darn interesting to watch. The Greek film Dogtooth, fortunately for me, turned out to belong to the latter category. This strange, and at times bizarre, film is about a young guy and his two sisters who have been forced to live totally isolated lives by their father in a large and luxurious farm house outside the city. Leave alone having any contact with the outside world, they are even deliberately spoon-fed wrong information about the world around them by their parents, and going to the extent of determining every fact of their behaviour and viewpoint, in order to shape their lives exactly the way they want. But, as can be expected given these freakish circumstances, things do go wrong – at times even horribly wrong, and a most minor act leads ultimately to rebellion by one of the girls. The director never provides any easy answers or explanations, and the ensuing film is therefore not just immensely disturbing to watch (despite the long moments of quietude that pervades major parts of its length), it is also hair-splittingly difficult to fathom at times. Yet, for all its idiosyncracies, it also turned out to be a chiling and compelling viewing experience. The acting of the cast, it must be mentioned, did play a vital role in the film’s success.








Director: Yorgos Lanthimos
Genre: Drama/Psychological Drama/Family Drama
Language: Greek
Country: Greece