21/49
Lang, released from prison, returns to his hometown in northwestern China. While on a dog patrol tasked with cleaning up stray dogs before the 2008 Olympics, he bonds with a black stray. The two lonely souls embark on a new journey together. Eddie Peng [lead character] bonded so strongly with Xin, the dog featured in the film, that he adopted him after filming was completed. Mentioned in Close-Ups: The Best Films and Other Results of 2024 (2024). A minibus heads to a small, abandoned town on the edge of the Gobi Desert. A pack of stray dogs rushes toward it, scaring the driver and overturning the bus. From there, Lang, an ex-convict and once popular motorcycle stuntman, returns to his hometown after spending 10 years in prison for the murder of a local gangster’s nephew. A few conversations with the police later, a title card appears and the magic of Black Dog begins. A poetic and minimalistic film about healing and moving on, portrayed through friendship, bonding, and the spiritual connection between man and dog. The man is Lang, and the dog is the infamous skinny black dog that terrorizes the city. Rumor has it that he carries rabies. The black dog defends his territory by peeing on walls and biting people, so everyone wants to catch him. Black Dog is the story of two lonely strays locked in cages 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 from the other stray dogs 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. People can, but dogs can’t. Stray dogs are aggressive because they live in constant fear and try to survive in a changing environment where they don’t belong. Lang is like a stray dog. He is not like the others. Throughout the film, he only speaks a few words because he is very quiet and withdrawn. Like the black dog, he tries to make a life for himself in a modernizing city. After his time in prison, Lang has changed, as has the city and the people he once knew. So now he doesn’t talk, he just exists and goes with the flow. That is why Lang and the black dog are perfect for each other and why they immediately bond – they are both just trying to survive in a world they no longer know, a world that no longer wants them. The action of Black Dog takes place during a major event in China, a time of urbanization and change. And this small town is deeply affected. Most of the residents have fled, leaving the dogs, who now roam freely in the streets and desert hills. The zoo runs out of money to support the animals, so they are also released into the desert. The circus is trying to survive, but business is not going well. The old is destroyed to make way for the new, which is a clever analogy to the ending of the film, where the black dog dies, leaving behind a new generation of black puppies. The cinematography in Black Dog is gorgeous, with Guan Hu adopting a new “slow cinema”; the Chinese style of Bi Gan, which made me fall in love with the film almost immediately. Long, sweeping shots of beautiful landscapes, quiet scenes of motorcycle rides and slow walks along dusty roads and abandoned rural villages, all complement the lonely atmosphere. Scenes like Lang and the black dog calmly walking through the stray dogs in the desert and the sun. The eclipse sequence with the zoo tiger roaming freely through the city streets are two of my favorite scenes of the year so far. And the final shot of Black Dog is so beautiful and meaningful. Through his canine companion, Lang finally learns how to continue living despite his dark past and how to find happiness in the misfortunes of life.