Dogless
Dog is dead.
There’s more to say on that but not tonight. Tonight is for quiet sadness, and for all the old feels about the times I choose death for another being, or wanted me own, or that abandoned someone who needed me to save myself.
For related reasons I watched Hotel for Dogs (2020) today. It’s not bad for what it is, but it’s not very much. It has a solid concept but it’s stripped down to such nothing that even with long dog tricks the film is only 75 minutes. It’s ostensibly about saving dogs from the pound and to that end there’s a cute, simple heist story with lots of dogs in it and a happy ending.
It’s actually about the systemic harm we do to orphans, how careful and independent they have to be to survive, and how the authority is not only indifferent to their suffering, not only a source of punishment, but works to tear away anything you might have (like a sibling or a pet). Unfortunately that film only has a runtime of about 7 minutes, and for most of it Dan Cheedle is being sort of a dick to children.
This film is part 101 Dalmatians, part Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, part Home Alone. I’d watch it with an 11-year-old, or with a dying dog – it’s full of cute dogs and it has themes and scenes that are relevant to orphaned young people. It’s better than the films that get labeled “for kids” but you’re gonna have to read the book if you want any depth to the central metaphor.
It was also the right movie for today. Losing dogs and siblings and self are the right parts, and I only had 75 minutes of attention in me anyway.
ZiB
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Sent from a phone.
