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White Dog (1982)

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34 comments in total

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20 out of 22 people found the following comment useful :-
I thought I lived in the United States., 30 julio 2005

Author: rixrex de United States

Where are all the protesters who gather whenever some idiot tries to censor artwork or expression that is contrary to American culture? None of them seem to have shown up when this great work was put on the shelf, then later chopped up. Europeans, with an open eye to American society (only due to the benefit of being distant), were able to see this film with honesty. I say this because that's where it was shown uncut and critically acclaimed.

The truth is that it is a statement about and against racism, completely misunderstood by the civil rights groups and the others who opposed it. It is a good, hard look at the way racism is propagated in America, through the training of not only this one single dog, but of young people by racist adults and peers as the young people mature into adulthood. It tackles the subject with an honesty that is sadly missing in the statements of most anti-racist organizations.

Most groups prefer to gloss over the true causes of racism with platitudes, and a few often have a political agenda that promotes socialistic ideals, so they really don't give full attention to the true causes of racism. Everybody now is so afraid of offending anybody else, that everything becomes a watered-down, grayish, inoffensive litany no more bothersome than grouchiness. Sam Fuller stated in film what it really is, and that is that people learn from others throughout childhood, not always by overt indoctrination but by subtle methods, to think in stereotypical and racist terms. Not just whites thinking of blacks as uneducated gangster-rappers, but also those who think of Native Americans as lazy drinkers, Italians as loud-mouthed mob disciples, country folks as hillbilly trailer trash, and so on.

And Hollywood does little of significance to dispel this, because they mostly grind things down to these kind of stereotypes to fit into the 2-hr film story mode that they like, which is long on violence, sex and action, and short on character. It's easier that way. Thanks to Sam Fuller for his courage.

ADDENDUM: I had the opportunity to see this again recently after 25 years, and it is still as powerful as I remembered. It does have a B-movie quality to it, a roughness that actually makes it better than if it had been a polished film. The final sequence remains as terrifying as anything I've seen in any type of film, horror, suspense, Hitchcock, and so on. And it has a fabulous music score by Ennio Morricone. I'd confidently call this one a must-see!

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12 out of 13 people found the following comment useful :-
underrated and heartbreaking, 6 febrero 2005

Author: guigui-paul de France

"white dog" is one of the best films of the 80's,it's a very very hard film but also a really clever and lucid film about racism,conditioning,hatred and the complex connections between people and animals. The acting (especially from Kristy McNichol and Paul Winfield) is great,Fuller's direction and his sense of editing and use of slow motion are really effective,the screenplay is brilliant and ennio Morricone's soundtrack is really beautiful and haunting. I have only an old VHS (with bad dubbing and full screen format)of "white dog"...this underrated masterpiece really deserves a beautiful edition on DVD!

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7 out of 8 people found the following comment useful :-
The dog should have earned Academy Award nomination, 4 abril 2003

Author: Ilya Mauter

Quite an interesting film about a hound trained to attack black people, and a black animal trainee, Keys, played by Paul Winfield, for whom it becomes a very personal matter to do a difficult job of deprogramming a dog. Misunderstood by many as a racist film at the time it came out, now it became sort of cult-classic. The most remarkable thing about this movie is certainly the most amazing performance from the main character - which is the dog itself. Only to see this dog acting is a sufficient reason to see this film. 6/10

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6 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :-
Tragic beauty..., 18 enero 2001

Author: moonspinner55 de redlands, ca

Meandering at times, but sensitive thriller about a white-colored, racist dog trained to attack African-Americans. Kristy McNichol nurses him back to health after hitting him with her car, soon learning his true nature and dedicating herself to curing the gorgeous but brainwashed creature. The random scenes of attack on black characters--one in slow-motion--are probably what doomed this film's chances at getting a theatrical release (it played Mexico, but only "preview performances" in the US). True, they are upsetting, but deliberately so. They are necessary in showing the reasoning of what happens next, but that certainly doesn't erase the controversial undermining. McNichol has a difficult time getting a grip on her character (we don't get a good idea of who she is either), but the actress's mere presence is reassuring--she's like a lovely ray. Paul Winfield gives his best performance ever as the black man who attempts to retrain the dog, knowing how slim his chances are. Some shots are repetitive, and the music is as well, though I found the passages lovely and melancholic. The slow motion taxed my patience, however all is nearly redeemed by that final shot. What tragic beauty there is in it, what a loss of innocence for all concerned. **1/2 from ****

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7 out of 9 people found the following comment useful :-
The true horror of racism, told through a dog., 27 junio 2006

Author: The_Void de Beverley Hills, England

White Dog is often mentioned on lists of all-time most controversial films, and there's a good reason for that. Samuel Fuller's film is controversial because it confronts the theme of racism head on, and succeeds where modern films such as 'Crash' fail in that it actually makes you think. Rather than actually being 'about' racism, White Dog tells a story and lets the themes flow; thus meaning that the audience is allowed to see the themes shining through, rather than being beaten over the head with them. The film is really clever and is based on a premise that isn't immediately obvious. In fact, if it wasn't for a series of little niggles; this film would be an absolute masterpiece. The problems with the film are largely down to the execution, as Samuel Fuller uses too many close-up shots; and the scenes where the title animal attacks in particular suffer from poor editing, which means that it's sometimes difficult to tell exactly what's going on and most of the time gave me a headache. Furthermore, the plot doesn't move particularly well and the film can seem like it isn't going anywhere at times.

It's a good job, then, that Fuller utilises his themes so well. Racism isn't a subject that interests me generally (mostly because of tacky, sentimental dross like Crash), but the plot here is used in such a way that it's impossible not to be taken in by it. We follow a young aspiring actress that accidentally runs a dog over. After becoming attached to it, she decides to take it in; but pretty soon the dog attacks someone, and she finds out that aside from being a white dog, it's also a 'White Dog'; a dog used by white people to kill blacks. The main reason why this film is so good is down to the title animal. Here we have an entity that is entirely innocent of its crimes; the guilty party being the racist that trained him. By letting us see what the dog is capable of, but making sure we know that the dog is only doing what it has been programmed to do ensures that the true horror of racism is allowed to shine through; as well as the futility of hatred down to skin colour. Films like White Dog are few and far between; here we have a movie that dares to tell a story despite its implications, and a movie that forces its audience to think about their own prejudices. It's just sad that we live in a world where films like Crash win Oscars while films like White Dog are banished into obscurity. Highly recommended!

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4 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
WHITE DOG (Samuel Fuller, 1982) ***, 15 junio 2007

Author: MARIO GAUCI (marrod@onvol.net) de Naxxar, Malta

Adapted by Fuller and Curtis Hanson from the Romain Gary novel (to whom the picture is dedicated), WHITE DOG was the iconoclastic director's last Hollywood effort – and one of his most remarkable, in my opinion. However, due to accusations of racism, the film was never released to theaters in the U.S.; undaunted, Fuller took it to Europe instead!

Having watched it twice myself (first on Italian TV and now on DivX, both viewings compromised by the full-screen format – since it was originally filmed in Panavision – and the latter even more so by the VHS quality of the source!), I have to say that I really don't see it as a racist picture at all. On the contrary, the film deals extremely tactfully with its delicate subject matter, and nowhere does it condone such views! One perhaps tends to forget that, hand in hand with the racial angle, the film also tackles another very sensitive issue: animal cruelty. This is handled just as effectively, particularly in the scene towards the end where the dog's previous redneck owner appears out of the blue to reclaim it.

Despite the violence it commits, the dog is never portrayed as a 'monster' that should be destroyed like the ones we encounter in conventional horror films. However, it does carry undeniable connotations with the genre – notably Robert Louis Stevenson's perennial "Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde". Like the leading character of that story, the dog seems to register two diverse and entirely opposing personalities – docile, protective and even playful with its mistress (Kristy McNichol), then turning suddenly into an unstoppable beast out for blood whenever a colored person crosses its path!

The 'reconditioning' scenes with Paul Winfield are exceptional, and really give one an idea of what trained animals have to go through before they finally learn to 'perform'. The rather bleak final scene (so typical of Fuller) is especially powerful – and poignant. The film is accompanied by a simple yet tremendously effective score by the great Ennio Morricone. From the cast, both McNichol and Winfield are superb; Burl Ives is admirably cast against type; Jameson Parker (from the SIMON & SIMON TV series) appears as McNichol's boyfriend; and there are nice cameos by the likes of veterans Marshall Thompson and Dick Miller, director Paul Bartel and even Fuller himself (as McNichol's agent).

Twenty-five years after the fact, it seems that Paramount has had enough time to reconsider its position and accommodate this important motion picture with an official release, at long last – which is rumored to be coming via a Criterion DVD, no less! I truly hope that we will soon see this fascinating and thought-provoking film receive the exposure it so well deserves: if anything, it ought to be made available for its valid sociological aspects – which it doesn't exploit for sensationalistic value but rather aims for maximum eloquence with a direct, realistic style that really shouldn't offend anybody...

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3 out of 3 people found the following comment useful :-
Unseen Masterpiece, 8 septiembre 2004
Author: RYAN LANGERUD (ryanlangerud@hotmail.com) de Los Angeles

I can't let this be the only comment for White Dog.

The best film about racism and hatred I've ever seen, with the basic message that hatred isn't something a child is born with, it's something they have been taught. And the question is raised, can you un-teach them?

A black animal trainer (Paul Winfield) attempts to re-train an attack dog taught to kill people with black skin.

Paramount tucked it's tail between it's legs when protesters who had never seen the film claimed it was the work of racists.

Fuller moved to France and never made another American movie. (He made one in France)

PS: to the lady above me, that annoying piano is Ennio Morricone and he has forgotten more about music than you will ever know.  

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5 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :-
Not what you might think, 13 marzo 2003

Author: Garrett Michael Hayes de Smyrna, GA

If you get the chance, by all means see this movie, but try to leave your preconceptions aside.

Before this movie came out, it was roundly denounced by people who misunderstood what it is about. The story is not, as many feared, about a dog trained to attack black people. It is the story of a man (Paul Winfield) and his determination to do something that everyone says cannot be done - FREE the dog of its programming. Unfortunately, it seems that too few people were able to break THEIR programming and give this movie a chance.

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3 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
Quintessential Sam Fuller: Excellent, 23 abril 1999

Author: Jared X de New York City

I thoroughly enjoyed this powerful film, particularly for its witty writing, great camera work, and editing. It is on par with To Kill a Mockingbird in terms of its comprehensive treatment of prejudice. My favorite scene is McNichol's chance encounter with the dog's original owner. Throwing tranquilizing darts at R2D2 was a brilliant metaphor for the story, i.e., (1) the futility of suppressing someone's lifetime of a robotic knee jerk reactions to the world with "treatment". On another level, Fuller seems to seek the termination the animal as a sidekick (and criticizing the absence of animal at all in cinema) and while longing for a return to depictions of animals (including the human animal) as a genuine menace. I appreciated the characters' mixed motives and questionable methodology.

I was delighted to see Curtis Hanson was a co-writer.

Criticisms? It should have been shot in black and white. The allusions to brain surgery were weak, and the animal experimentation implications could have been more subtle. The motive(s) of the Burl Ives character is unclear. Kristy McNichol's attachment to the dog is inexplicable and unconvincing, although her performance is very good. Her devotion might have been demonstrated in other (in varying degrees of cheesy) ways, i.e., photographs of her beloved pet, saying outright "but I love him!" or perhaps showing the dog's reflection in her sunglasses. But why strain the story with her waiting by the phone for the news that the dog is cured? I was much more convinced by the trainer's passion.

It's a great film nonetheless.

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1 out of 1 people found the following comment useful :-
Review, 17 diciembre 2007

Author: Hazerider13 de United States

White Dog tackles the question, "Can racism be cured?" Also what happen when the question is attached to some one you love? At what point do you stop turning a blind eye and making excuses. Right off the bat we (the audience) is lured into caring for and even loving the mysterious dog hit by a car. Accompanied with a wonderful music score we are left on the edge of our sets when were give the first dark glimpse of the pigment challenged canine.

Filled with obvious and subtle symbolism you may have to watch it twice to catch everything. Such as the uses of a R2D2 as a dartboard with syringe instead of darts. (Medicating something that cannot be medicated). With out the second look the ending only appears half as saddening at it truly is. Attached to the most satisfying seen in the move, (where our leading lady comes face to face with the dog's original owner), she comes into the contact with him. Thusly transferring sent, causing the dog to charge her and ultimately attack the owner of the animal training facility. Who bares a strong resemblance to the dog's original owner.

I could see this being remade for today's market and not doing to badly. However I do hope that doesn't happen. It could have a number negative copycat.

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