Black Dog (M)

Taiwanese-born heartthrob Eddie Peng stars alongside a loveable whippet cross in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard Prize winner, Black Dog.

On the edge of the Gobi Desert in Northwest China, Lang returns to his hometown after being released from prison after a lengthy stint in jail. While working for the local dog patrol team to clear the town of stray dogs before the 2008 Olympic Games, he strikes up an unlikely connection with a black dog. Two lonely souls, Lang and the black dog play silent sentinels in a landscape of danger, and of change in China’s regions.

Directed by Guan Hu, a Chinese sixth generation director usually known for big-budget action box-office record breakers, Black Dog is a one-of-a-kind crowd-pleasing riff on crime thrillers, westerns, neo-noirs and canine comedies, with more than a few nods to Mad Max and Easy Rider.

Featuring a cheeky starring turn from legendary Chinese director Jia Zhangke and a Palm Dog Jury Prize winning performance from Xin as the black dog, whom Eddie Peng adopted after finishing the film, Guan Hu’s foray into arthouse is a truly unique cinematic experience that demands to be seen on the biggest screen possible.

Cast: Eddie Peng, Jia Zhangke, Yi Zhao, Hong Yuan, Liya Tong, Jing Liang, Yi Zhang, Zhangke Jia, Vision Wei

Director: Hu Guan

★★★★★ "registers as an existential fable about isolation, redemption, the possibility of making connections against the odds. It is also a crime thriller and a dazzling piece of landscape cinema" FINANCIAL TIMES

★★★★ "Visually, Guan never puts a frame wrong, whether he’s setting up a physical comedy set-piece, idly incorporating a solar eclipse or letting the dogs steal a scene." EYE FOR FILM

★★★★ "director Guan Hu may just have made the enduring masterpiece of man-and-dog movies - Citizen Canine, if you will - in this soul-filling homecoming odyssey set on the windswept fringes of the Gobi Desert" TIME OUT

★★★★ "a remarkable tale of companionship that hits in all the right spots" UPCOMING

★★★★ "The balance of warmth and deadpan comedy is quite the tightrope walk but Black Dog pulls it off, making the film comparable to the work of Wes Anderson in more ways than one" RTÉ

★★★★ "Director-cowriter Guan Hu has a terrific eye for insightful, offbeat details, so the film looks stylish as it delivers a strong emotional punch" SHADOWSONTHEWALL

★★★★ "Its heartwarming aspect comes framed with real grandeur, and a stark absurdism and tightly wound sentimentality reminiscent at times of Takeshi Kitano" GUARDIAN