30/40

Released from prison, Lang returns to his hometown in northwest China. As a member of a dog patrol tasked with getting rid of stray dogs before the 2008 Olympics, he befriends a black stray dog. The two lonely souls embark on a new journey together. Eddie Peng [the main character] formed such a strong bond with Xin, the dog featured in the film, that he adopted him after filming wrapped. Referenced in Close-Up: The Best Movies and Other Results of 2024 (2024). A minibus is heading toward a desolate small town on the edge of the Gobi Desert. A pack of stray dogs charge toward it, scaring the driver and overturning the bus. Lang, an ex-convict who was once a popular motorcycle stuntman, returns to his hometown after spending 10 years in prison for the murder of a local gangster’s nephew. A few conversations with the police later, the title card appears and the magic of Black Dog begins. A poetic and minimalist film about healing and journeying, represented through a friendship, a bond, a spiritual connection between a man and a dog. The man is called Lang, and the dog is the infamous skinny black dog that terrorizes the city. This black dog is said to carry rabies. He wanders around defending his territory by urinating on walls and biting people. So everyone is out to get him. Two lost souls, alienated by the society around them. Two black sheep who don’t belong. Lang is marginalized because of his past as a “murderer,” and the black dog is also alienated among the other stray dogs for being the biggest, strongest, fastest, and most aggressive of all dogs. One of Guan Hu’s main messages in Black Dog is that no animal is evil. Humans can be, but not dogs. Stray dogs are violent because they live in constant fear and are trying to survive in a changing environment that they don’t belong in. Lang is like a stray dog. He’s not like the others. He only says a few words in the entire film because he’s very quiet and introverted. Like the black dog, he’s trying to make a life for himself in a city that’s undergoing a major modernization. After his time in prison, Lang has changed, as has the city and the people he once knew. So now he doesn’t speak, he just exists and goes with the flow. That’s why Lang and the black dog are so perfect for each other and why they immediately connected – they’re both just trying to survive in a world they don’t know anymore, a world that doesn’t want them anymore. Dog takes place at a significant time for China, a time of urbanization and change. And this small town is deeply impacted. Most of its residents have fled, leaving their dogs behind, who now roam the streets and the desert hills freely. The zoo is running out of money to keep the animals, so they too are free in the wilderness. The circus is trying to survive, but business is not good. The old one is demolished to make way for the new one, which is a clever parallel to the end of the film, where the black dog dies but leaves behind a new generation of black puppies. The cinematography of Black Dog is gorgeous, with Guan Hu adopting the new Chinese “slow-cinema” style of Bi Gan, which made me fall in love with the film almost instantly. Long panning shots of beautiful landscapes, quiet scenes of motorbike rides and slow walks through dusty roads and desolate rural villages are all complemented by a lonely atmosphere and the solar eclipse sequence with the zoo’s tiger roaming freely through the city’s streets, are two of my favorites of the entire year so far. And the final shot of Black Dog is so beautiful and meaningful. Thanks to his canine companion, Lang finally learns to continue living despite his dark past and to find happiness in life’s miseries.

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