Posted by Heather Taylor-Nicholson on January 21, 2008, 10:27 am, in reply to "Re: The Wild Dogs"
84.12.22.166
I have seen 'Wild Dogs', both at it's premier in Toronto back in 2002 I think it was, and I also have the copy on DVD. It is a beautifully disturbing film that deals with life's more unsavory aspects, and without giving too much away, does this by looking at the life of a dog catcher in a developing European city and a photographer visiting the area. Ger plays a dreadful 'porn.com' guy based in Canada, and I can tell you his character is a horrible person to say the least, but Ger plays the part well in my humble opinion.
Ger has been criticised in the past here for playing this particular character (and yet I didn't see howls of protest when he played an assassin in another film, there were comments on that film of how Ger does a 'bad guy' so well, which he does and I have no dissagreement on that either!) and I can fully understand why, as part deals with a very sensitive issue surrounding the potential exploitation of children. I will not discuss that here either as I do not want to give too much of the plot away and it could open a can of worms, and is best discussed elsewhere. But my take is that Ger has not been afraid to be challenged and I do admire him for actually having the guts to play this part, which becomes pivital to the end of the tale. In saying that, I am sensitive to the issues raised in the film and it *is* a heartbreaking peice and does well to examine human emotions and motivations, raising the question on how we value ourselves and others in other societies, and how easy it is to exploit the vulnerable and how common it occurs.
And yes, the viewer is left *very* uncomfortable at the end because you realise that this isn't just set in an area of great poverty but could and does actually happen in your own back yard, and the majority of us are not aware of this, or to be more brutal, would not probably *want* to be aware preferring to deny that such appalling treatment of fellow humans does happen in so called 'developed' societies, and that as 'consumers' how we are buying into this unwittingly or otherwise.
So yes, I would encourage you to see this and I think the DVD is still available via amazon.com and other online shops. But be warned it is a very hard film to watch and will upset you, as it is designed to make you think very hard about what you are seeing.
Heather a.k.a Madam CodXXXXXXXXXXX
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