Tag: Abandonment & Rescue
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Wiener-Dog. Dir. Todd Solondz. Amazon Films/IFC Films. 2016.
In the opening scenes of Todd Solondz’s Wiener-Dog, we see the unnamed titular character in a very recognisable form of cage as she waits her collection from an animal shelter. After having been killed by a passing lorry in the film’s climax, Wiener-Dog’s taxidermied body is placed in a glass box and becomes part of…
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John Wick. Dir. Chad Stahelski. Summit Entertainment. 2014.
John Wick is an exploration of domesticated animals and their hierarchical standing. The entire narrative centres around a revenge plot following the killing of Wick’s dog. It raises important questions of domestication, anthropomorphism, and worth. Following the opening montage of scenes detailing the loss of Wick’s wife, he is shown to have been given a…
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Isle of Dogs. Dir. Wes Anderson. Fox Searchlight Pictures. 2018.
Wes Anderson’s 2018 film Isle of Dogs depicts a dual representation of animals. The film’s plot is largely focused on the escapades of dogs, and for the most part these animals are highly anthropomorphised by Anderson’s direction. On the other hand, the majority of the humour in the film is constructed by Anderson occasionally reversing…
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Bringing up Baby. Dir. Howard Hawks. RKO Radio Pictures. 1938.
Bringing up Baby is a film which explores the relationship between humans and animals through the use of doubling. This is particularly evident in the scene where Susan lets a wild leopard escape from a circus and culminates in the scene where the leopard is wrangled into a jail cell by David. The use of doubling…