White God (2014) (Hungarian Language)

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Review

118min

Cast: Zsófia Psotta, Body, Sándor Zsótér…and more

Writers: Kornél Mundruczó, Viktória Petrányi & Kata Wéber

A young Hungarian girl ‘Lili’ and her loyal dog ‘Hagen’ are forced apart when she is sent to stay with her estranged father, their paths diverge with Lili struggling to reconcile with her father whilst looking for her best friend while Hagen endures the horrors of being a “mutt” on the streets of Budapest, their paths converge under terrifying circumstances in this Cannes prize-winning dark contemporary fairy-tale.

‘White God”, or Fehér Isten as it’s known without the subtitles, is a strange hybrid fairytale drama and is told from the point of view of the Dog and young girl but in a very non-Disney and rarely anthropomorphic way, the result of which is that even though the film does turn into a surreal nightmare towards the end, it’s never fantastical and therefore easy to accept as reality.

Much has been made about the allegorical qualities of the film and of course as a dystopian fairy-tale it’s in its nature to be somewhat of a fable, in this case about discrimination against what is considered the mixing of “breeds” (code for race) and the marginalization of the “unwanted”.

We must say however that this perception is somewhat over-stated, ‘White God” is much more a cautionary tale about our treatment of species we consider “beneath” us, much in the same way that 2011’s ‘Rise of the Planet of the Apes’ was, indeed it must be said that this film could easily be named ” Rise of the Planet of the Dogs” for all it “shares” with that film, in particular with ‘Hagen’ in the role of ‘Caesar’.

We must praise the animal performers in the film and in particular Body who plays ‘Hagen’ the dog, truly one of the greatest ever animal performances in film, kudos must also go to the film’s editors and director Kornél Mundruczó.

Engaging and thought-provoking if a little predictable at times, ‘White God’ is a must see for animal and in particular dog lovers, just don’t expect an easy watch despite a few cute and heart-warming moments.