Dogman (2018)
Directed by Matteo Garrone
Marcello, a small and gentle dog groomer, finds himself involved in a dangerous relationship of subjugation with Simone, a former violent boxer who terrorizes the entire neighborhood. In an effort to reaffirm his dignity, Marcello will submit to an unexpected act of vengeance.
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Last in Cannes with his strange fairy-tale omnibus Tale Of Tales , Garrone returns to the criminal milieu of his earlier Gomorrah , but condenses the perspective to a single relationship, unbalanced as the one in Burning: the “friendship,” to put it very euphemistically, between kindly dog groomer Marcello (Marcello Fonte) and brutish ex-boxer Simone (Edoardo Pesce), who terrorizes the whole neighborhood with his thieving and fighting and bullying, to the point where the other business owners are ready to consider just having him killed.
Like Garrone’s previous Mafia-drama Gomorrah, Dogman is shot in grimy neorealist style.
Garrone will forever be known for Gomorrah and he once again considers the extent to which crime seeps into the lives of ordinary people, as Marcello Fonte places greater value on his one-sided liaison with bruising loser Edoardo Pesce than he does his bond with the neighbours with whom he drinks and plays five-a-side and his relationship with nine-year-old daughter Alida Baldari Calabria, with whom he goes scuba diving and competes in dog shows.
His bleak, lowlife crime drama Dogman is an excellent addition to a worthy filmography that also includes Gomorrah and Reality.
Matteo Garrone has a history of directing fascinating films that vary from the gritty Gomorrah to the fantastical Tale of Tales (which screened here in Cannes in 2015).
It's that rarity of a film that believes it's smarter than you and then proves it, reminding in every way that counts of Matteo Garrone's underseen Dogman : a crime movie that's seen enough crime movies.