25/25
Released from prison, Lang returns to his hometown in northwestern China. As part of a dog patrol tasked with cleaning up stray dogs before the 2008 Olympics, he gets close to black strays. Two lonely souls embark on a new journey together.. Eddie Peng [lead role] formed such a strong bond with Xina, the dog featured in the film, that he adopted him after filming ended.. Featured in Close-Up: The Best Movies and other results in 2024 (2024). The minibus is heading towards a small, deserted town on the edge of the Gobi desert. A pack of stray dogs rush towards him, scare the driver and overturn the bus. From it comes Lang, an ex-convict who was once a popular motorcycle stuntman, and now returns to his hometown after 10 years in prison for murdering the nephew of a local gangster. A few conversations with the police later, the title card appears and the Black Dog magic begins. A poetic and minimalist film of healing and moving on, told through the friendship, connection, and spiritual bond between a man and a dog. The man is Lang, and the dog is a notorious skinny black dog that terrorizes the city. Rumored to carry rabies, the black dog goes around defending his territory pissing on walls and biting people, so everyone wants to catch him. Black Dog is the story of two lonely wanderers caged in a world that doesn’t understand them. Two lost souls alienated from the society around them. Two black sheep who don’t fit in. Lang is marginalized because of his past as a "murderer", and the black dog is also alienated among the other strays because he is the largest, strongest, fastest, and most aggressive of all dogs. One of Guan Hu’s main messages in Black Dog is that no animal is evil. People can , but dogs can’t. Stray dogs are violent because they are in constant fear, trying to survive in an evolving environment where they don’t belong. Lang is similar to a stray dog. He is not like the others. He only says a few words throughout the film because he is very quiet and introverted. Like a black dog, he tries to make a life for himself in a city that is in the process of 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 his own way. 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 , to a world that no longer wants them. Black Dog is set at a crucial time for China, a time of urbanization and change. And this small town has been deeply affected. Most of its residents have fled, leaving their dogs behind, who now roam freely through the streets and desert hills. The zoo runs out of money to support the animals, so they are released into the desert. The circus tries to survive, but business is not going well. The old is being torn down to make way for the new, which is a clever comparison to the ending of the film, where the black dog dies but leaves behind a new generation of black puppies. The cinematography of Black Dog is beautiful, with Guan Hu adopting a new "slow motion" ; The Chinese style of Bi Gan, which made me fall in love with the film almost immediately. Long, panoramic shots of beautiful landscapes, quiet scenes of motorbike rides and slow walks through dusty roads and deserted rural villages, all complemented by a lonely atmosphere. Scenes like Lang and the Black Dog who calmly walk through the desert’s stray dogs, and the solar eclipse sequence with a zoo tiger roaming the city streets freely are two of my favorites of the year so far. And the final shot of Black Dog is so beautiful and meaningful. Through his canine friend, Lang finally learns how to continue living despite a dark past and how to find happiness in life’s misfortunes.