14/43
Released from prison, Lang returns to his hometown in northwest China. As part of a dog patrol tasked with rooting out stray dogs ahead of the 2008 Olympics, he bonds with a black stray dog. The two lonely souls embark on a new journey together. Eddie Peng [the lead] 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 of 2024 and Other Scores (2024). A minibus is on its way to a small, deserted town on the edge of the Gobi Desert. A pack of stray dogs rushes towards it, scaring the driver and knocking the bus over. This leads to Lang, an ex-convict and former stunt motorcycle racer who is now returning to his hometown after serving 10 years in prison for the murder of a local gangster’s nephew. A few conversations with the police later, a name card appears and the magic of Black Dog begins. A poetic and minimalist film about healing and moving forward, depicted through the friendship, bond, and spiritual connection between a man and a dog. The man is Lang, and the dog is a notorious, thin black dog that has been terrorizing the city. Rumor has it that the black dog carries rabies, and it goes around defending its territory by urinating on walls and biting people, so everyone is trying to catch it. Black Dog is the story of two lonely strays who are caged in a world that doesn’t understand them. Two lost souls who are alienated from the society around them. Two black sheep who don’t fit in. Lang is ostracized because of his past as a “murderer,” and the black dog is also alienated from the other strays because he is the biggest, strongest, fastest, and most aggressive of all dogs. One of Guan Hu’s main messages in Black Dog is that no animal is evil. A human can be, but a dog is not. Stray dogs are violent because they are in constant fear, trying to survive in an evolving environment where they don’t belong. Lang is like a stray dog. He is not like the others. He only says a few words in the entire film because he is very quiet and introverted. Like the black dog, he is trying to make a life for himself in a city that is modernizing. After his time in prison, Lang has changed, and so 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 that’s why they connected instantly – they are both just trying to survive in a world they no longer know, a world that no longer wants them. Black Dog is set during a momentous event. China’s time, a time of urbanization and change. And this small town has been deeply affected. Most of its inhabitants have fled, leaving behind their dogs, who now roam free in the streets and desert hills. The zoo is running out of money to support the animals, so they are released into the wilderness. The circus is trying to survive, but business hasn’t been going well. The old is being torn down to make way for the new, which is a clever juxtaposition to the end of the film, where the black dog dies but leaves behind a new generation of black puppies. The cinematography in Black Dog is gorgeous, and Guan Hu embraces the new "slow motion" Chinese Bi Gan style that made me fall in love with the film almost immediately. Long panoramic shots of beautiful landscapes, quiet scenes of motorcycle riding, and slow walks through dusty roads and deserted villages are complemented by a lonely atmosphere, as Lang and the black dog calmly walk through the desert stray dogs, and the solar eclipse sequence where the zoo tiger roams freely through the city streets are two of my favorites of the entire year so far. And the last shot of Black Dog is so beautiful and meaningful. Through his canine companion, Lang finally learns to move on with his life despite his dark past and how to find happiness in the misery of life.