Legendary director of New Taiwan Cinema Chang Yi, celebrates his return to cinema because of his commitment to the late Edward Yang, with this animated anthology that consists of four very dramatic stories revolving around dogs.
A Dog's Life screened at Osaka Asian Film Festival, that will be on March 9th to 18th.
In the first one, “Lost and Found”, a puppy is roaming the streets of a metropolis, trying to find some solace in the passing people, who seem to pay no attention at all, to the point that it's life becomes endangered a couple of times when it finds itself in the middle of the traffic. Eventually, a kid with a yellow raincoat appears.
The second one, “One Eyed Tiger”, revolves around a huge, one-eyed dog that is picked up by an animal lover while roaming the streets, who takes it to his suburban house where he also takes care of a bunch of other dogs. Having been by itself for long though, the “Tiger” does not get along at all with the other dogs, and does not show any kind of affection towards his savior.
The third one, “Old Lady” tells the story of an old and very sick dog, particularly revolving around its past and his cohabitation with his neglectful owner, who finds himself caring much more for it now.
The last one, “A Change of Heart”, revolves around a dog and his loving owner, who finds herself dealing with more than she has bargained for when she adopts a stray one, complying to the first one's wishes.
The four segments are quite different in the animation styles they implement, although all of them are quite artful, both in the drawing and particularly the animation of the dogs, whose movements, sounds and general behavior are as realistic as possible. Furthermore, the films do not stray away from showing even the “hardest” episodes in the lives of the animals, with the second one being particularly violent and the third one not shying away from depicting the consequences of the “hero's” disease.
The other trait the segments share is their heart-breaking nature, since all of them are quite dramatic and entail a sad end. On the other hand, all of them manage to highlight the nature of these magnificent animals, their relationships with humans, and the difficulties it presents, as much as the behaviour of their owners and random people towards them. Regarding the last aspect, the four parts also present four different sentiments/attitudes of people toward dogs: indifference, innocent but naive love, neglect, and jealousy, with Chang Yi highlighting the fact that all of the above usually lead to awful consequences for the animals.
Through the aforementioned, Chang Yi seems to aim at making people understand that they have to be very careful with their behaviour towards dogs, since their well-being, and even life in some instances, depends much on their owners' actions.
“A Dog's Life” is a very sad spectacle but at the same time, a wonderful anthology that presents the lives of dogs and humans with artistry, sensitivity and realism
