Dogtooth

The Greek film “Dogtooth” is nominated to best foreign language film, a category which deserves more attention. It is an astonishing statement about power, oppression and parents-children relations. The basic idea is intriguing: the parents of three young adults keep them imprisoned at home, living a kind of Truman Show. The outside world is totally filtered to suit the conveniences of the parents, and the children never leave the house. The manipulation of language is a very interesting aspect of every oppression. In this particular case words like “telephone” ‘keyboard” or “cunt” acquire different meanings.

            The film is rich in metaphors like the dogtooth itself, which in the strange code created by the parents represents the time to leave the house, which never arrives. Be careful, weak souls: in this film there is strange sex and violence in a way that to me is more shocking than the normal one we see in American films.

            A film with a thesis, like “The White Ribbon”. A film that is worth watching and discussing with friends, and for those brave enough, with parents. Also, a great opportunity to hear the beautiful Greek language and to get to know that “example” in Greek is “paradigma” and shotgun is “carabina”.