MAN BITES DOG

MAN BITES DOG: a shortened version of an aphorism in journalism that describes how an unusual, infrequent event (such as a man biting a dog) is more likely to be reported as news than an ordinary, everyday occurrence with similar consequences, such as a dog biting a man. An event is usually considered more newsworthy if there is something unusual about it; a commonplace event is less likely to be seen as newsworthy, even if the consequences of both events have objectively similar outcomes.

This poster suggests this is come kind of bad ass serial killer action movie, when in reality this gut is a lot closer to a charmless racist Willard than Dirty Harry. i mean was the pacifier really necessary?

The activities of indiscriminate serial killer Ben (Benoît Poelvoorde) are recorded by a willingly complicit documentary team, who eventually become his accomplices and active participants. Ben provides casual commentary on the nature of his work and arbitrary musings on topics of interest to him, such as music or the conditions of low-income housing, and even goes so far as to introduce the documentary crew to his family. But their reckless indulgences soon get the better of them.

let me just get my 'god i hat this asshole'' rant out of my system and then we can talk about the good parts. what we have here is the ultimate hypocrite. Ben is irreversibly flawed, and spends all of his time complaining about and critiquing others, and never turning that same critical eye to himself. He feels he is better than everyone, can do whatever he wants with no consequence, and he knows whats best for everyone at all times. as much as he is indiscriminate in his killing, he discriminates against everything else possible. Skin Color, income, social status, age, intelligence, you name it and Ben will have some asshole comment about how much better he is than you. he has the constant need to be liked, and his Laissez-faire attitude towards human life is repulsive. perhaps the worst part is how much he is having doing all this.

fuck this skinny little toddler shit stain of a human being, and all who can stand to care about him. as for the rest of the movie...

believe it or not, the movie where we follow around a dick head serial killer pacing wise just feels like following around a dickhead serial killer. there is nor end goal for the characters to accomplish,which makes this whole movie feel meandering and slow. lucky for me though when this movie gets to slow i can always stop reading the subtitle and focus on the amazing directing and settings.

you don't end up in the Criterion collection for nothing, and this movie is 1:36 minutes of black and white perfection. its a gorgeous ERASER-HEAD style blend of normally family homes and the ghost of old factories, and even in shaky handheld style every frame is beautiful. this movie also works as a commentary on the strong appeal and corruptible nature of power, the dangers of willful ignorance, desensitization, and good old fashion peer pressure.

i see this movie a lot on disturbing movies lists, and i cant say why. its no more upsetting than HENRY: PORTRAIT OF A SERIAL KILLER, but for its time it must have really shook up its viewing public. And if you are curious how this movie played in theaters, here's all the info i could find on that.

Man Bites Dog was screened at the 1992 Cannes Film Festival where it won the International Critics' Prize, the SACD award for Best Feature and the Special Award of the Youth for directors Rémy Belvaux, André Bonzel and Benoît Poelvoorde. The film's controversial content and extreme violence was off-putting to some viewers, and resulted in the film being banned in Sweden. In 2003, the video was banned in Ireland. the Los Angeles Times highly praised the film upon its release, writing, "Man Bites Dog defines audacity. An assured, seductive chamber of horrors, it marries nightmare with humor and then abruptly takes the laughter away. Intentionally disturbing, it is close to the last word about the nature of violence on film, a troubling, often funny vision of what the movies have done to our souls.... The deserving winner of the International Critics Award at Cannes ..." Stephen Holden of The New York Times called the film "a grisly sick joke of a film that some will find funny, others simply appalling." Holden concluded his review by stating that the film "gets carried away with its own cleverness. It makes the audience the butt of a nasty practical joke."

wait hold on... this film has comedy in it?

8/10