Dog Tooth

Dogtooth DVD

SYNOPSIS

A hyper-stylized mixture of physical violence and verbal comedy, Dogtooth is a darkly funny look at three teenagers confined to their parents’ isolated country estate and kept under strict rule and regimen — an inscrutable scenario that suggests a warped experiment in social conditioning and control. Terrorized into submission by their father, the children spend their days devising their own games and learning an invented vocabulary (a salt shaker is a “telephone,” an armchair is “the sea”) — until a trusted outsider, brought in to satisfy the son’s libidinal urges, plans the seeds of rebellion by trading VHS tapes for sexual favors. (partially adapted from the New Directors/New Films catalog)
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Stills

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ABOUT THE DIRECTOR

YORGOS LANTHIMOS was born in Athens in 1973 and studied film and television direction at Stavrakos Film School. Since 1995, he has directed numerous short films (including 2001’s Uranisco Disco), experimental theatre, music videos and TV commercials; his first feature film was 2005’s internationally-acclaimed Kinetta.


DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT

The idea for Dogtooth came from speculating about the future of family. How would it evolve in the future (if it evolved at all), and what would happen if this social organism ceased existing as we know it? What would someone do to preserve it at any cost, and what would that do to the people involved? How distorted can bodies and minds become after being confined and shaped?


We tried to make it the opposite of a claustrophobic film. That's why we placed it in a big, expensive house with a swimming pool and a big garden. There are many scenes that take place outside in the beautiful garden, which of course is surrounded by a tall fence. It’s an openly claustrophobic film.


We worked with the actors more physically and verbally rather than intellectually. We were trying to figure out what would happen to the most fundamental and basic things, like language and words and common sense, if they were put in this very specific and different situation — where would that lead, and what practical problems would be faced?


The world of Dogtooth takes place whenever you imagine it to be. There are no factual elements that tell you if this happened today or sometime long ago or in the future.
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CAST

Christos Stergioglou …………… Father
Michelle Valley …………… Mother
Aggeliki Papoulia …………… Older Daughter
Mary Tsoni …………… Younger Daughter
Christos Passalis …………… Son
Anna Kalaitzidou …………… Christina

 

CREW


Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos
Written by Yorgos Lanthimos and Efthimis Filippou
Produced by Yorgos Tsourgiannis
Executive Produced by Iraklis Mavroidis
Associated Produced by Athina Tsangari
Cinematography by Thimios Bakatakis
Art Direction & Costumes by Elli Papageorgakopoulou
Editing by Yorgos Mavropsaridis
Sound by Leandros Ntounis

REVIEWS

"…the Greek helmer's sophomore pic does exude a strange fascination throughout."
-VARIETY   

"The movie is a cool, eerie commentary on family dynamics and the dangerous power of adolescent sexual curiosity."
- Entertainment Weekly  

"Somewhere up in the heaven he didn’t believe in, Buñuel is doubtless smiling approvingly."
- Gavin Smith, Film Comment   

"Winner of the Prix Un Certain Regard at Cannes, it will be branded by some as a highly significant statement and by others as a laborious, long-winded cerebral allegory. "
- Dan Fainaru, Screen Daily  

"The geometric framing and odd, almost robotic performances place this in the realms of science fiction more than human drama, but its insights into the anomalies of power, influence and manipulation are penetrating to say the least. Highly recommended."
- Time Out London  

"Dogtooth is a delightfully twisted little fable from Greek filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos, with all the markings of a cult classic. Lanthimos elevates the material far above the mere exploitative, constructing a uniquely surreal yet oddly believable alternate universe amidst that Lynchian jungle of menace, the suburban backyard."
- Seth Abramovic, Movieline  

"Dogtooth is a darkly comic and imaginative film and a deserved winner of the Prix Un Certain Regard at the Cannes Film Festival."
- Arion McNicoll, TheTime   

  

FESTIVALS

• WINNER “Un Certain Regard”

• Prix de la Jeunesse
Cannes Film Festival, France

 

• The Special Jury Award
• Best Actress (Aggeliki Papoulia)
Sarajevo Film Festival, Bosnia and Herzegovina,
“Competition Feature Film”

 

• Best Motion Picture Fantastic–
  Young Jury Award

• Citizen Kane Award for Best New Director
SITGES Festival Internacional de Cinema
Fantastic de Catalunya

 

• Louve d' Or
Montreal Festival du Nouveau Cinema

2009
Pusan
London

 

2010
New Directors , New Films   New York

 

 

A Kino International Release