A cunt is a large lamp.

A disturbing, fascinating exploration of authoritarianism as inflicted on three adult children, two daughters (Aggeliki Papoulia and Mary Tsoni) and a son (Hristos Passalis), by their distant and mysterious parents (Christos Stergioglou and Michelle Valley). The children's lives are controlled in almost every way conceivable. They are taught to fear the outside world, dreaded cats in particular. The most compelling element, though, is the parent's casual manipulation of language to mislead and/or limit their children, which they seem to do for fun or in the name of a strange, all-encompassing social experiment. A sofa is a "sea." A small yellow flower is a "zombie." And a "pussy" is a very bright light. This recalls Kazuo Ishiguro's use of bland euphemisms in Never Let Me Go (to die is to "complete"), but there was a point there (to soften the blow of a life doomed to be short from its inception). In Dogtooth, the random (ab)use of language is even more frightening.

The performances are strong in the sense they are always convincing. No one is called upon or allowed to "act" in a traditional, scene-stealing sense, but the minimalist, stunted performances ring true. If a standout performer must be named, it is Mary Tsoni, who has a fetching, innocent presence as the younger of the two daughters.

Director and co-writer Yorgos Lanthimos crafts the film with a near Kubrickian flair. D.P. Thimios Bakatakis' frames have a clinical and claustrophobic, yet elegant quality. Lanthimos never forces a sense of horror; even the most violent acts play out with a certain detached, unsentimental quality. This is a movie which finds great, thought-provoking terror (and a bit of gallows humor) in flatness, in the run of the mill, in what is unsaid.

A-

I'm not sure how wise it was to slap "HILARIOUS" in big letters on the cover of the DVD, but the 'I hope your kids have bad influences and develop bad personalities' bit was indeed darkly hilarious.

I thought it was pretty hilarious myself.

*controversial

maybe the subs on the kino dvd are off, but i don't remember this in the movie.

either way, i enjoyed this quite a bit. it wouldn't be incorrect to say it's like a haneke movie minus all of the obtuse didacticism.

The older sister hears the world from Christina, and later asks her mother what it means. Her mother says, "a cunt is a large lamp. Example: the cunt switched off and the room got all dark."

huh. did you watch the kino dvd? it was "pussy" in that version.

I did... not.

DOGTOOTH - 9/10 (A-)

One of the most bizarre movies I've ever seen. Sick, disturbing, and utterly fascinating. It left me wanting more.

Certainly not something I'd recommend to many people, but I found it oddly brilliant and original.

As for it being hilarious, well, I laughed out loud once. I can understand someone finding it funny and did recognize funny moments, but I was too busy being disturbed to laugh. I may find it more humorous on repeat viewings. Definitely a poor decision to have a critic quote calling it "HILARIOUS" on the cover though. I believe most people who pick this up will find it disturbing someone thought it was hilarious. The humor that is here is very dark.

All around great film. It sucks you in and spits you out in an equally disturbing and hilarious experience. I'm really glad this was recognized by the Academy Awards. I wish there was a chance it could win. A-

How awesome would it be if this took home Best Foreign Film tomorrow night?

It has almost no chance.

I wouldn't necessarily say that. The foreign committee has to watch all of the nominated films, which is why it rarely matters which foreign film is the most popular. This certainly has its supporters.

While their past choices don't bode well for Biutiful as the highest profile film, they don't bode well for Dogtooth either. I can't see the group who gave an Oscar to Departures awarding one to Dogtooth.

I am 95% certain the winner'll be Incendies or In a Better World.

It's not about being popular, it's about the actual content of the film. It may have got nominated without being seen, but that isn't gonna help it win.