Melancholia and absurdity unify in Argentine director Ana Katz’s sixth feature film, The Dog Who Wouldn’t Be Quiet. Starring the filmmaker’s brother Daniel Katz as Sebastián, this black-and-white film searches the depths of his emotional experiences amidst the chaos and drudgery of life.
Sebastián is a graphic designer whose background is little known to us except for his unique bond with his beloved dog. More object than the subject of the film, but a compelling character nonetheless, Sebastián is the focal point of a story that focuses mainly on the world’s treatment of him.
He quietly interacts with his universe, as seen in the opening scenes, which simultaneously display Ana Katz’s offbeat humor and social critique. The man patiently bears neighbors filing into his courtyard, one by one. Without even hearing the others’ previous takes, each has the same nosy comments about his dog’s wellbeing and misguided solutions to the animal’s constant whining—all presented under a guise of caring concern.
Despite the opinions of others, Sebastián does everything he can for his pet, who seems to suffer from some unknown tragedy. His hands are tied in a situation representative of the whole working class when he loses his job for bringing his dog to work every day. Sebastián’s dedication to subsequent temp positions resonates with the blue-collar worker who risks his life to deliver groceries to strangers, something Sebastián himself outright vilifies.
It’s increasingly affecting to see this average man do everything he can to reach for the good things in life when the bad things simply happen without much pomp or circumstance. And life goes on. Illustrating this succinctly and wordlessly are short animation sequences that punctuate a couple of ground-shaking moments in the film.
One of these is a global catastrophe that disrupts everyone's lives and causes the class divide to become all the more pronounced. Life post-calamity has a striking verisimilitude even in its absurdity—perhaps due in part to the real post-production global pandemic, but thanks more to the film's authentic treatment of the human experience.
The Katzes make an extraordinary directing/acting duo because The Dog Who Wouldn’t Be Quiet presents a compelling image of an ordinary man and a story that is equally gritty as it is melancholic and sweet. A thought-provoking title highly recommended to purchase for library shelves specializing in Spanish-language, drama, and independent films.
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