MovieChat Forums > Hundstage (2001) Discussion > Truly awful, the death of all good indie...

Truly awful, the death of all good indie cinema

posted 17 years ago by b1lskirnir
10 replies | jump to latest

Earlier today I got into an argument on why so many people complain about modern films in which I encountered a curious statement: "the character development in newer movies just isn't nearly as good or interesting as it used to be." Depending on the film, this can be attributed to a number of things, sometimes generic special effects and plot-driven Hollywood garbage like War Of The Worlds, but in the case of over-the-top, uninteresting attempts at social commentary and a desperate struggle to put "art" back into cinema, it's movies like Dog Days that are to blame. I shut this movie off 45 minutes in, which is 30 minutes more than I actually should have. I wasn't interested in any of the characters whatsoever, found nothing substantial beyond a thin veil of unfocused pessimism. There are so many better movies about depressing, pathetic people (Happiness, Gummo, Being John Malkovich, Irreversible) that actually contain characters of great emotional depth and personality. Dog Days had none more than an eighth grader's distaste for society, choosing to ignore any true intelligence about the way people actually are, and instead choosing to be a dull, awful, and hopelessly unoriginal attempt at a work of "art." This isn't a characterization of the unknown or a clever observation into the dregs of society, it's just boring and nothing worth caring about.

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Modern Plumbing Studios, est. 2004

[–] 17 years ago

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[–] AnnieCMCE 17 years ago

because only real people are in Vienna?

[–] 17 years ago

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[–] b1lskirnir 17 years ago

Real people in cinema? First off, "realism" is subjective and can be positive or negative on a film. History shows that as film has evolved there's been a greater movement towards "realism" such as in the European movements of the 50s and 60s. Jean-Luc Godard famously said cinema should be "24 frames of truth." Nowadays, Hollywood spends millions of dollars to get CGI in Superhero movies to look more believable, like it could jump out of the screen. At the same time, directors like Gus Van Sant, Lars von Trier, Larry Clark, Harmony Korine, etc. have found their own ways of retaining "realism" in acting by using simpler cinematic technique, hiring non-actors, etc.

However, one must understand that realism can be quite boring and stupid. Hitchcock famously said "Cinema is life with the boring parts cut out." I wish that were true of movies like this where I only see a group of people I do absolutely not care about, find interesting, or find anything that makes this worth watching either for enjoyment or profound intellectual stimulation.

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Modern Plumbing Studios, est. 2004

[–] 17 years ago

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[–] b1lskirnir 17 years ago

Best response or addition to this discussion you can muster? "So" my point is it's boring, stupid, mindless, and just another stereotypical indie film about the way people are. It really makes me worry about the future of movies if we can't even rely on decent independent films that fall into as many cliches as Hollywood.

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Modern Plumbing Studios, est. 2004

[–] 17 years ago

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[–] PaulJosephGoebbels 17 years ago

You may not like this one, but there have been and continue to be many excellent independent films.

[–] 17 years ago

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[–] Tchoutoye 14 years ago

There are so many better movies about depressing, pathetic people (Happiness, Gummo, Being John Malkovich, Irreversible) that actually contain characters of great emotional depth and personality.

Weird that you should compare Irreversible favourably to Dog Days. There is so much more emotional depth in Dog Days than Irreversible, which relies on the gimmick of reversed time to convey little more than the wish to shock audiences.

but in the case of over-the-top, uninteresting attempts at social commentary and a desperate struggle to put "art" back into cinema, it's movies like Dog Days that are to blame... a dull, awful, and hopelessly unoriginal attempt at a work of "art." it's just boring and nothing worth caring about.

I've seen over-the-top films that I don't like (Irreversible for instance), but I've never seen an over-the-top film that was boring. That seems like a contradiction to me.

Ulrich Seidl comes from a documentary background, and it shows in this film. He describes Dog Days as "a feature film with documentary characteristics". That's not the same intention as "putting 'art' back into cinema".

choosing to ignore any true intelligence about the way people actually are

What, all 6.5 billion of them?

Are you saying that none of the characters shown in the film can possibly exist? They are played by non-actors. The security salesman is a real life security salesman the director found in the Yellow Pages. The director based the screenplay on real people he encountered and observed. To say that the film does not portray some people as they actually are is simply not true. And I think it does so intelligently.