Striking modern viewers with a forceful impact, WHITE GOD is a film that dog lovers should fear: it presents a taut and realistic tale of canine oppression and brutality that builds to some satisfying moments, but nonetheless presents near-endless animal cruelty along the way. As a dog lover myself I found it a tough watch, the kind of film that wears its heart on its sleeve for the most part. This overlong Hungarian allegorical tale offers a cautionary fable about the necessity of treating animals well and the consequences that can occur when they're treated badly. The scenes featuring the little girl are repetitive and endless and unnecessary, but the scenes with the dogs are spot on, harking back to classic stories like THE PLAGUE DOGS and WHITE DOG. What's most remarkable is that they were shot via live action with some wonderfully convincing performances from the dogs themselves.
Review of White God
