ISLE OF DOGS - Review

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Hi guys it's Debbie and today I would like to speak about Wes Anderson's new film: "Isle
of Dogs". I was really excited when I went to see this movie, especially
because it was the first film I'd ever seen in Manhattan, it was actually the
Upper West Side, close to Central Park. And so I felt so fancy and glamorous
just waltzing through the foyer. But this only
until the moment in which I entered the wrong room and sat down and started to
watch a completely wrong film. After a few moments of awkward fake laughter to
join in the rest of the audience, which was laughing, and wondering what on earth
was going on, I leaned over to the fancy glamorous man on my side
and I asked: "Is this the 4:15 film?" Upon being laughed at I picked up my (not so
fancy 10 euro) backpack and quickly ran out, treading on very fancy glamorous
feet. Anyway eventually I figured out how to cinema, found the right room and
finally watched "Isle of Dogs"... and I loved it. "Isle of Dogs" is a stop-motion animated
film set in Japan in the fictional city of Megasaki. The story is set in a
dystopian future in which all dogs have been infected by a canine flu, making
them ill and dangerous for humans. The authoritarian government imposes strict
regulations concerning dogs, which are quarantined (more like abandoned) on
distant Trash Island, where they live in solitude, scavenging for food amid the
waste. One day a boy, Atari Kobayashi, crash-lands an airplane on the island, in
a desperate attempt to find his beloved dog Spots.
He soon befriends a group of dogs and all together they set off on the quest
to find this pet, obviously starting a much larger adventure. I loved "Isle
of Dogs", I found it very engaging, I found it very well-written and I especially loved
the witty lines of dialogue, spoken both by the humans and by the dogs. And
another feature I particularly liked was how the dogs were
given all a set of human feature, so speech, problem-solving, a quite high
level of reasoning. But how at the same time the director left them all the the
typical dog features we are all very familiar with, such as not resisting when
it's time to play, to fetch a stick, the fact of loving humans, loving
cuddles, obeying orders, fighting when it comes down to food and so on.
This harmony of these two features created a set of very lovable characters
and along with some very specific individual features we were immediately
able to recognise the dogs as as characters, rather than as the dogs which
belong to human characters and just aid their function in the plot. For example
Rex, which is voiced by Edward Norton (and it's still so weird to hear his voice
after seeing him, after meeting Edward Norton in real life) is the typical
loving, adorable, sweet pet. But then there's Nutmeg which is voiced by
Scarlett Johansson, which is incredibly well groomed and pampered show dog. Bryan
Cranston voices Chief, a rebellious and tough stray dog which is very wary
of humans and their intentions, Tilda Swinton is a small pug, Bill Murray
portrays a mascot of a baseball team. So they are an eclectic group of animals,
of characters, each with his or her personal features and which we can't
help but fall in love with. Then there is Atari Kobayashi, which is the boy that
traveled to the island. I love this character because he still has all that
affection for his pet, the tears of sadness of not being able to find him
and missing his friend to hug. But at the same time he's stronger than most of
the adults in the film, as he bravely travels all the way to the island, he
sets off on this perilous mission to find Spots, against all of the
authoritarian (and pretty frightening) politicians of Megasaki. I think that
Atari Kobayashi moves something deep inside each and every one of us,
he represents that special bond which forms between an owner and
his pet, that loving feeling towards an animal. I also enjoyed all of the
secondary characters, in particular Tracy, a stubborn and courageous student
which admires Atari's mission and which has a very wild and interesting
personality. When looking at the visual aspect of this film it has all the
distinctive features of a Wes Anderson film, it intensely focuses on the
composition of the images, in particularly under on the symmetry and
in general on a very linear composition. The movements of the camera follow the
ones the characters' make, for example we often follow the cable line on which
the dogs travel. Then the characters are all very quirky, very witty,
they are voiced by an ensamble cast and there are some of Wes Anderson's frequent
collaborators. Also in particular Wes Anderson had already created a similar
work back in 2009 which was "Fantastic Mr. Fox", but I think I enjoyed "Isle of
Dogs" more, I found it had the right mix of darkness, this grim environment of the
authoritarian regime, there is a lot of suffering, it is a very mature movie. But
at the same time there's that right mix with fear and love, the bravery, the
courage this kid has, the love for animals, love in general. I think that out
of all the Wes Anderson films this might be my second favourite one after "The Grand
Budapest Hotel". But I won't say this definitely, I would like to think about it a
bit more, maybe rewatch some of his older films. "Isle of Dogs" has created a lot
of discussion surrounding the concept of cultural appropriation, as it displays
typical images of Japan, such as sumo wrestling, sushi eating, when for example
at the same time all the dogs speak clear American English. And I'm not here
to speak about cultural appropriation but I believe that in this case this
film was not taking advantage of Japan or making fun of Japan, of you know
using Japan as a stereotype. But I believe it is rather a purposely
exaggerated situation: mayor Kobayashi is shown as this huge imposing dictator,
his side man looks more like a zombie than a human... and the dog shouldn't even
be able to speak! So there is a lot of absurdism in this film, but just like in
all Wes Anderson's films, in which there are these very staged, nearly theatrical
moments: all the adventures in "The Grand Budapest Hotel" look nearly as a staged
theatrical comedy. So I belive there was just the intention of creating a story of
a boy and of his animal and the bravery against the enemy, all set in an absurd
exaggerated background. I would like to hear your opinions on this film, so
please leave a comment down below telling me what you thought about it, or
if you haven't seen it, what you expecting from it. If you'd like to see
more movie-related content, make sure to subscribe and I'll see you soon, bye!
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ISLE OF DOGS - Review

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