The Wild Dogs (2002)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

Thom Fitzgerald

Writer:

Thom Fitzgerald (writer)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Set during the cull of the stray dogs in the city of Bucharest, The Wild Dogs weaves together a week...

Plot Keywords:

Photographer | Beggar | Romany | Homelessness | Deformity

Awards:

4 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

Rachel Blanchard	...	Moll
Visinel Burcea	...	Sour Grapes
Mihai Calota	...	Bogdan
Geraint Wyn Davies	...	Colin
Nelu Dinu	...	Dorutu (as Dinu Viorel Nelu)
Thom Fitzgerald	...	Geordie
David Hayman	...	Victor
Simona Popescu	...	Varvara
Marcel Ungureanu	...	Radu
Alberta Watson	...	Natalie
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Anca-Ioana Androne	...	Elena
Coca Bloos	...	Nurse (as Cornelia Bloos)
Nicoleta Preda	...	Men's Club Girl #4
Nicoleta Radoi	...	Men's Club Girl #3
Heather Rankin	...	Flight Attendent
Julia Stanciu	...	Men's Club Girl #2
Sylvia Stanila	...	Men's Club Girl #1
Jackie Torrens	...	Brenda
Coca Zibilianu	...	Photo Model (as Florentina 'Coca' Zibilianu)

Runtime:

97 min (Toronto International Film Festival)

Country:

Canada

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Filming Locations:

Romania

Company:

Chum Television

Good shock value does not make a good film

While I give credit to the filmmaker for completing such a film in what must have been difficult circumstances (political, not emotional), I would expect a film like this from adventurous student filmmakers. This is by no means a great film, both technically and dramatically.

While it is always good shock value to show desperate conditions, there must also be good story, good acting and good craft to make a good film (for example, Schindler's List). This film has none of those. The NTSC DVD that I watched was of the poorest production values, with behind the scenes footage that is embarrassing.

What I find more interesting than the film is the dynamics of the comments found here on IMDb. From overwhelming praise to outright denial of the circumstances portrayed in the film. If the film got one thing right, it is portraying the atmosphere of the streets of Bucharest. The thousands (Yes, there are thousands of them) of stray dogs and the Gypsies do exist. However, it is a fact of life in Romania and not considered to be a major problem by locals who grew up and lived in these conditions all their lives. Nor is it anymore difficult to deal with as a tourist than the pick pockets I found in Rome, or the homeless I find in Los Angeles. Whenever I read a comment that is overwhelmingly good or bad, I discredit the whole comment as biased. I hope others do the same as well.