It’s easy to disregard “Wiener-Dog” literally just by reading the silly title, but after watching this film, you’ll realize that’s the point.
A dog is involved, yes, but behind its fuzzy presence is a funny, cynical and almost existentialist take not on how people choose to live, but rather life making that decision for them.
The dog in this film is the lens into four different narratives and the audience gets to learn about each one in detail. Satisfyingly, the detail is in the images. With swift, short and sweet dialogue, we learn more from the set design than we do from the character interactions.
The sets here consistently offer both quality and quantity. From a privileged child that eagerly receives a puppy after surviving cancer, to a depressed screenwriter finding a way to make his mark on society. It’s all framed to be interesting, which is hard to do considering the daily monotony captured in these brief snapshots.
The cinematography also deserves high praise. One sweeping panoramic shot in particular is absolutely beautiful, and has kept me long in thought even after the movie has end. It involves a hotel room, a mariachi band and a lack of dialogue — but I think I’ve said enough already.
The film is real, which is more than I can say about most movies this year. There will always be needless exposition, but nothing is there blatantly for the sake of just being there.I think the re-watchability here stems from little details. I know I missed some things the first time around, somewhere between the awkward conversations and silly circumstances.
It came as a pleasant surprise to find that “Wiener-Dog” is pretty hilarious. It borders the genre of black-comedy which I personally love. It’s all made even better when realizing the audience pretty much is the dog. A whirlwind of various scenarios play out before us, all we’re left to do is watch.
This film reminded me of a recent movie I watched, “Above and Below,” and I kept thinking how oddly similar they were in nature. “Above and Below” took itself way too seriously and keep waiting for me to validate how “deep” it was. “Wiener-Dog,” on the other hand is absurd, and essentially conveys the same message without even trying.
The movie is far from perfect, I’d be lying if I said I was interested the whole way through. Even at it’s most boring points, I didn’t feel like I was wasting my time. Looking back, it’s nice to see a film with multiple narratives utilize good pacing and flow… via a dog.
It all comes down to the title. “Wiener-Dog” that’s all this movie is. But in hindsight the dog has barely anything to do with these stories, she just happens to be involved. To the dog these characters are the same: all their issues, dilemmas, everyone they love, their achievements… it’s all just translated into a bark.
And that’s what I like about this movie. On paper, it’s probably something I would disregard but the execution brings it together. It’s linear, easy to follow and there’s not a whole lot of thinking involved, but “Wiener-Dog” remains evocative. There’s something to be said about that.
Audrin Baghaie is a culture reporter and movie reviewer for the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at culture@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @AudrinTheOdd.
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