A second viewing of Yorgos Lanthimo's Dogtooth cleared up a few things which had confused me the first time through, but mostly my opinion remains unchanged. Also, getting to see Dogtooth digitally projected on the newly-released Kino Blu-ray allowed me to better appreciate Lanthimo's exquisite compositions, one of the highlights of the film. Dogtooth is the story of a family living in a large, secluded compound. The father, played by Christos Stergioglou, is the only one who leaves the house. He and his wife (Michelle Valley) have kept their three children (two daughters, played by Aggeliki Papoulia and Mary Tsoni, and a son, played by Christos Passalis) from being exposed to the outside world so as for them to remain pure, uncontaminated, clean. For the first half hour or so, Lanthimos and his cinematographer Thimios Bakatakis observe the routine of the household, a thoroughly fascinating spectacle which involves the three children listening to prerecorded lessons instructing them on the correct words by which to call certain objects (a twisted game which introduces the importance of language in Dogtooth's alternate universe), exercising in the garden and in the pool and engaging in competitions with one another in order to accumulate the most stickers. It all seems to work reasonably well, although from the beginning there are signs that the intricate system devised by the parents is not immune to dangers. First, the parents are forced to bring in a woman named Christina (Anna Kalaitzidou) to satisfy their son's sexual urges, and her interactions with the family start to set things askew. Also, the older daughter (Papoulia) is beginning to act out, first just verbally but eventually the infractions turn more severe. While I still have my doubts about how all of Dogtooth fits together, it's undeniable that the parts themselves are very beautiful (even if the content is, at times, quite ugly) and Lanthimos displays a cool intelligence throughout.
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