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Kynodontas (2009)

Drama | 94 minutes
3,21 734 votes

Genre: Drama

Duration: 94 minuten

Alternative title: Dogtooth

Country: Greece

Directed by: Yorgos Lanthimos

Stars: Anna Kalaitzidou and Hristos Passalis

IMDb score: 7,1 (121.252)

Releasedate: 1 June 2009

Kynodontas plot

"The cat is the most feared animal there is!"

A father, mother and three children live in a house on the outskirts of a city. The house is surrounded by a large fence and the children have never left the house. They are educated, raised and entertained by the parents as they wish, without outside influence. The only person allowed in is Christina, a guardian of Father's company. Father organizes her visits to arouse the growing son's sexual urges. The whole family loves her, especially the oldest daughter. One day Christina gives her a headband as a present, but she wants something in return.

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avatar van JJ_D

JJ_D

  • 3815 messages
  • 1344 votes

Agree with The Philosopher, although I also agree with panjoe that our job is to try to dig deeper. To a certain extent, indeed.

'Kynodontas' so. Funny? hmm. Certainly not like 'The Lobster' or 'The Killing of a Sacred Deer'. This film also reminded me of Ulrich Seidl: pitch-black humor, far beyond the current moral and aesthetic limits. Far…

It is indeed intriguing not only to wonder what systematic abuse does to young people, but also (and in this case: especially) with yourself as a spectator: is laughing at all? an option? Nevertheless, for this kind of humorous experiment you need a story that creates a hilarious frame – cf. 'The Lobster' or 'The Killing of a Sacred Deer'. But 'Kynodontas'? No, it lacks a “safe narrative”, a clear stylistic or conceptual framework that is targeted – or it has to be the film medium itself.

And indeed, in the finale, the entire screening turns out to revolve around the transgression of the cinematographic prescriptions regarding the showing of verbal, physical, sexual and educational violence. Haneke, right? Well, we probably managed to shudder collectively. But uplifting? Forget it. And that's exactly why: hardly worth watching in my opinion.

2.25*

dutch flagTranslated from Dutch · View original

avatar van El ralpho

El ralpho

  • 1479 messages
  • 1090 votes

House arrest

During the first half hour I was still strongly inclined to turn off this psychological drama/thriller because it seemed much too vague and slow to me. Afterwards it turned out to be a case of having to come in, because as the playing time went on I was more and more drawn into the bizarre world of this Greek family. The story quickly reminded me of the ghost family that was discovered on a farm in Ruinerworld here in the Netherlands, about a year ago. Although much has become known about this, it is still a mystery what exactly happened here.

Dogtooth provides an insight into a similar situation, and shows what an impact a, to say the least, controversial upbringing can have on children now raised. An upbringing in which the parents - both of whom are more than a bit loose - have created their own environment for their children, without them ever having taken a step outside their own backyard. Without outside influence, such a private reality that can be created is actually very frightening, and it also shows how great the impact of parents on growing children can be. The result is as bizarre as it is fascinating, especially when the 'children' increasingly look for outside influences.

3.5*

dutch flagTranslated from Dutch · View original

avatar van Shadowed

Shadowed

  • 11345 messages
  • 6677 votes

Lanthimos.

As a director, definitely one of the weirder directors we've gotten. Dogtooth still descends from his Greek cinema, but is nevertheless known as a deeply disturbing film in America. After seeing the film I can conclude that it has mainly become a strange film that touches on some taboo topics.

I liked Lanthimos' American contributions, which is why it's a shame that the work he's better known for is my least favorite Lanthimos film to date. Dogtooth basically has the same setup as the other films by this director, but the execution is less tight and mainly focused on weirdness.

Furthermore, you will have to give some interpretation to Dogtooth, because Lanthimos mainly shows and tells little. As a result, you will regularly have some questions about some scenes. It is certainly not a succession of weirdness, because every scene has a meaning, but does that make the film itself immediately better? I do not think so.

The execution is not really tight enough and the static images of tranquility do not captivate for the entire playing time. I can understand the choice for a rather bare-bones layout, but I don't know how to remain intriguing for the entire playing time. The pitch-black humor in between also changes a bit from genuinely funny to something too forced.

The acting is variable. Some of the roles are very strong, but I don't appreciate roles like Papoulia's. Certainly that frustrated dance scene towards the end had an irritating effect. Furthermore, this film remains separate for the entire running time and the taboo subjects are actually shown, so this film can certainly be experienced as shocking. I just can't do much with it myself. Unfortunately.

dutch flagTranslated from Dutch · View original