DOOMED FROM THE START (November): WHITE DOG and MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION

[Anderson]

It's a Criterion two-fer in November.

I'd like to thank Fat Elvis for the opportunity.
Both films are readily available on Netflix. I'll post links below. I'd like to see if we can get discussion going within a week. General conversation is welcome as well.

WHITE DOG (1982)

After hitting a German shepherd with her car, young actress Julie (Kristy McNichol) adopts it and nurses it back to health. When she discovers that her pet has been trained to viciously attack black people, she convinces dog trainer Keys (Paul Winfield) to try to cure the animal. Samuel Fuller directs this controversial, chilling drama based on Romain Gary's 1970 memoir, Chien Blanc. Burl Ives co-stars.

MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION (1954)

When careless philanderer Bob Merrick (Rock Hudson) wrecks his boat and indirectly causes the death of a beloved local doctor, he tries to make amends to the man's widow, Helen (Jane Wyman, in an Oscar-nominated role). After Helen is accidentally blinded, a smitten Merrick sets out to make a genuine change in his life, restore Helen's sight and win her heart. Douglas Sirk directs this tearjerker that co-stars Barbara Rush and Agnes Moorehead.

[Tati]

Yes!

[Count Chocula]

White Dog has a fascinating concept and some fine performances but is waaaay too heavy handed. A little subtlety would have done that film wonders.

[Tati]

Both movies are on their way! Last month i totally fumbled the ball. But was busy as hell and had a vacation to plan and left the country for 10 days!
I will make amends!

[Anderson]

Bumping this to see who's watched it yet.

[Phil]

I feel badly; I've seen both, but not recently enough to dig in. Magnificent Obsession was kind of amazing, but I want to rewatch to be able to add anything here.

[Tati]

I've had a very busy couple of weeks. I commit to watching one this week and the other one next one. Hold me to it!

[Judas Booth]

I'm so frickin' behind on my movies. Apologies, Anderson.

[Tati]

Haha white dog is awesome. It's so over the top and as subtle as a jackhammer to the head that i was laughing all the way through.
The Morricone Music every time the dog found a black dude and starts chasing him is priceless.

The direction is pretty terrible too. Maybe ONE more shot of the dog chewing through the fence...

Still very interesting and different film to watch.

Thanks anderson! will watch Magnificent Obsession next week!

[Fat Elvis]

The direction and Paul Winfield's performance are the movie's biggest strengths, Tati. The way Fuller shot the finale is masterful, and how it pays off--emotionally devastating!

<The white dog spotting a small child on the street is one of the most genuinely frightening moments I've experienced at the movies! That moment has stuck with me since childhood! SPOILER: Almost a relief that it's the poor mailman who gets mauled. A bit of dark humor from ol' Sam, i suppose>

[Tati]

The dog never sees the child. And it never gets a mailman. It's a random black dude walking by the street. He even kills him inside a church and after he's done, the fucking dog looks up to the image of jesus surrounded by dogs...

I really really found it terribly watchable. But it's so full of unintentional laugh out loud moments that's hard to take it seriously.

[Fat Elvis]

(My thoughts from a year ago)

You could argue the central metaphor is heavy-handed, but I think it works in its simplicity. Its strength, and the power of the movie, is honesty and understanding of the uglier(est) side of our nature; and brutal depiction of man's inhumanity to man.

I didn't see any directorial clunkiness. In fact the "deprogramming" sequences, church attack (especially the slow build to it), and climax is-imho--up with the best work of Fuller's career.
*SPOILERS*
Ultimately, what gets you, the dog's just a pawn in the game. (My interpretation is Winfield did reach him, and the final desperate attack on Ives was brought on because of his physical similarity to the original racist trainer. In a state of confusion, the memory snapped him)

The last lingering shot, as the camera pulls away, of the white dog shot; alone; dying or dead in the dirt--devastates.

[Tati]

It just didn't work for me at all. It all felt a joke.
Every character felt very cliche and every situation very heavy handed. The slow motion attacks with the music and the zooms to the victim's horror faces while being attacked got really funny really fast.

Also loved that the boyfriend, so prominently featured in the first act, completely disappears from the movie without explanation.

[Anderson]

That's what is so strange about Fuller. He's a very capable director who pulls off these off-kilter moments by accident.

Cut to the cop after the Dog saves Kristy MacNichol. The whole raper quip just slips out of nowhere.

Next up is Sirk's "Magnificent Obsession". It's like The Killer, but with more weeping.