20/16
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. Out comes Lang, an ex-convict who was once a popular motorcycle stuntman, now returning to his hometown after 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, depicted through a friendship, a bond, a spiritual connection between man and dog. The man is Lang, and the dog is the infamous skinny black dog that terrorizes the city. Said to carry rabies, the black dog roams around defending his territory by urinating on walls and biting people, so everyone is out to get him. Black Dog is the story of two lonely stray dogs locked in a cage by a world that doesn’t understand them. Two lost souls alienated by 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 for being the biggest, strongest, fastest and most aggressive of them all. 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 are constantly afraid, 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 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 trying to survive in a world they don’t know anymore, a world that doesn’t want them anymore. Black Dog takes place at a significant time for China, a time of urbanization and change. And this small town is deeply affected. Most of its residents have fled, leaving behind their dogs, who now roam the streets and desert hills. The zoo no longer has enough money to support the animals, so they too are released into the desert. The circus tries 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 beautiful, with Guan Hu adopting Bi Gan’s new Chinese style of “slow cinema”, which made me fall in love with the film almost instantly. Long panoramic shots of beautiful landscapes, quiet scenes of motorbike rides and slow walks on dusty roads and desolate rural villages, all complemented by an atmosphere of solitude. Scenes like Lang and the Black Dog peacefully walking through the desert strays, and the solar eclipse sequence with the zoo tiger roaming the city streets freely, are two of my favorite scenes of the entire year so far. And the final shot of Black Dog is so beautiful and meaningful. Through his canine companion, Lang finally learns to move on despite his dark past and find happiness in life’s miseries.