Dogtooth [DVD]

The new (2019) special edition from Kino includes special features such as a new audio commentary with stars Papoulia and Passalis; a new conversation between Lanthimos and critic Kent Jones (courtesy of Film at Lincoln Center); archival interview with Lanthimos; deleted scenes; and trailers (one for the film, and the other for Alps). It also includes a reversible cover featuring the original poster.If there ever there was a film that is best experienced without knowing a single detail, this unforgettable oddity from Greece is the one - this was Oscar nominated for best foreign in 2009.A study of human conditioning in extremis, Dogtooth is set almost entirely within the confines of a stately home just outside the city limits. There, walled off by impressive shrubbery and a single gate, live three unnamed siblings and their parents. Though the brother (Christos Passalis) and his two sisters (Aggeliki Papoulia, Mary Tsoni) are all within a stone’s throw of 20, there’s a childlike innocence to them, and it’s no wonder, for not once in their lives have they ever set foot beyond their property line.With the exception of a telephone hidden away within a cupboard in the parents' bedroom, there’s no access to the outside world. The kids seem fairly well-educated, though they’ve inexplicably been taught some odd vocabulary substitutions by mum and dad, such as ‘keyboard’ for female genitalia, or ‘zombie’ for a small yellow flower found in the garden. They’ve also grown up with a mythology that the only safe way to venture outside of the grounds is by car, for lurking beyond the walls is a vicious monster, known as a cat, that kills instantaneously. And one is only old enough to leave the house when either of their canines have fallen out and grown back. In other words, never.The father (who manages a factory of some sort) is the sole family member to leave the house on a regular basis, and the only other person the children have ever seen is Christina (Anna Kalaitzidou), a security guard from the factory who is brought to the house (blindfolded, naturally) on occasion to have sex with the son.The youngsters spend their days creating silly competitive games, such as inhaling anesthesia to see who will wake up first, or engaging in various obedience exercises orchestrated by their parents. Their reality is solely a product of their parent’s imagination, which includes the belief that Frank Sinatra is their grandfather and that the toy airplanes they find in their garden are those that they see flying overhead.Lathimos gives us no clue as to why the parents have raised their children under these conditions. There’s no indication that they are part of some religious cult, nor do they seem particularly insane. Is it merely a case of over-protectionism stemming from paranoia, or a radical example of isolationism? That we don’t know their motivation leaves us unsure how to respond to the film, for nearly every scene can be read as either darkly comical or disturbingly tragic. The framing is equally disconcerting, with heads often disappearing off the top of the screen, cut-off just as they are from society. Given the siblings’ circumstances, it’s unsurprising that there are hints of incest, but even beyond the film’s (very) explicit sequences there’s a sexually unsettling tone throughout.The appearance of two well-known Hollywood blockbusters from the Eighties will be the catalyst for the events in the final act, but Lanthimos isn’t going to let us off easily. The film’s inconclusive ending is perfectly suited to the world it so wonderfully creates.

A very beautiful movie, and intensely disturbing, yet artfully restrained. Perhaps the most notable thing about the movie is that it has absolutely no exposition whatsoever. You're just presented with this family, a relatively robust and comfortable upper middle class family living in a gorgeous Greek country home with a massive garden and pool. There are weird things. For instance, the children have been taught to use words differently, specific words, words such as "telephone", which is something the parents don't want the kids to know exists. And then there are the liaisons that the father seems to be arranging for his son. He takes a female security guard from his work and brings her over to have sex with the son on a regular basis.Oh, and yes: the three children, a boy and two fraternal girl twins, don't seem to have any names.It's a fascinating narrative situation that Lyle Kessler explored in his play Orphans; the children have been systematically isolated and brainwashed their whole lives. Their mother is in on it, but its clear that the father is the instigator and driving force behind it all. He's not your stereotypical tyrant father. He does not shout or torment the children for torment's sake; he even brings an element of whimsy and wonder to the lives of the children, as when he leads them to believe the swimming pool is invaded by sea bream or that airplanes have dropped out of the sky and onto the lawn. He does, however, control his family by constantly pushing them toward his version of perfection, by ruthlessly beating his children in the rare instances when they do go against him, and by, in a pivotal point of the movie, forcing the eldest twin (known simply as "The Eldest") to do something nobody should ever have to.Even with these climactic atrocities that reveal the father's true character, the most disturbing parts of the movie are the quiet ones, such as when the father says he will play the children a recording of their grandfather singing. He puts on a record of Frank Sinatra, and as Old Blue Eyes croons, the father translates Fly Me To The Moon into Greek, translating the song about love's exultation into another piece of brainwashing about the cruciality of insular family life; or at the parents' wedding anniversary when the twins dance and all the movements are so strange, childlike, alien to any recognizable style of dance from the outside world.If you can't take quiet, European art movies, this one is definitely not up your alley, but if you can, this one delivers the goods.