After city-dwelling young Tenzin’s mother dies, the boy is sent to live with his seemingly loveless father in the snowy hills of Tibet in this 2011 anime feature. As the only doctor in the region, Tenzin’s dad is frequently absent, leaving the youngster to fend for himself as a shepherd facing scowling bears, wolf packs, and wild dogs. To the rescue comes a huge, free-roaming golden mastiff who is seemingly unafraid of facing any predators. Tenzin befriends this stray pooch, who is often vilified by others, including a local bandit who blames the dog for killing his brother. But when a series of violent attacks on whole villages come under investigation, the dog is subject to further scrutiny, although the evidence points to something much worse. An engaging boy-and-his-dog story with a deeply felt subplot about Tenzin’s failure to receive his father’s love, filmmaker Masayuki Kojima’s The Tibetan Dog features mesmerizing visuals of life in a remote, icy corner of the world. Presented in a dual-language Blu-ray edition, rated TV-14, this is recommended. (T. Keogh)
The Tibetan Dog
(2011) 90 min. Blu-ray: $29.98. Maiden Japan (avail. from most distributors). Volume 33, Issue 5
The Tibetan Dog
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