Dogtooth

"Dogtooth" (2009) dir. Giorgos Lathimos

The Un Certain Regard 2009 Cannes winner is a bold and stylish dissection rather than a portrayal of a utopian suburban life or the breakdown of the post-modern family unit.

The film is an expose of a patriarch dominated world gone completely haywire. A middle aged father of three young adult "children" and his wife reside in a family mansion surrounded by a huge wooden fence. No one but the father is allowed to go beyond the fence, on the premise that the world outside is a very dangerous place.

Despite being in their early-to-mid twenties (or maybe even older, as we are never given any reference or indication of their actual ages), the two young sisters and their brother appear rather childish. They playfully cool off from the hot summer days in the family backyard pool while playing games suitable for children under 12.

Home schooled, apparently by their own parents, the three siblings experience the world only in their domiciled microcosm. They are not permitted to watch TV or use a telephone. Any time they hear a word they don't know the meaning of, their mother quickly assigns a completely different meaning to even the most benign words. When one of the sisters asks what does the word "pussy" means, the mother answers - "A big light" without any hesitation.

However, soon the serene atmosphere of this strange family is disturbed and series of violent outbursts threaten its very existence. After one of the "weekly companions" of the brother lends a couple of VHS tapes to one of the sisters, who in turn rebels in her own childish way (who wouldn't after seeing Rocky and Flashdance), events turn quickly to the grotesque and violently surreal.

Deeply provocative, highly stylized, very Haneke-like using theatrical compositions and bleached lighting, the surreal atmosphere of this film adds to its fines and solidifies it as not only one of the most original films of the last year but also of the past decade.

Here is the trailer: