White Dog - Criterion Collection
by Samuel Fuller
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DVD details
Actor: Burl Ives, Kristy McNichol, Paul WinfieldDirector: Samuel Fuller
Brand: IMAGE ENT.
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Color, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.78:1
Running Time: 90 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2008-12-02
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Criterion Collection
Product features:
- Samuel Fuller's throat-grabbing expose on American racism was misunderstood and withheld from release when it was made in the early eighties; today, the notorious film is lauded for its daring metaphor and gripping pulp filmmaking. Kristy McNichol stars as a young actress who adopts a lost German Shepard, only to discover through a series of horrifying incidents that the dog has been trained t
DVD Reviews of White Dog - Criterion Collection
DVD Review: Racism is Like Breathing--It Stops with One's Death
Summary: 3 Stars
Sam Fuller's classic, White Dog, is about a dog that was trained to attack Black people--a "white" dog. The film is based on Romain Gary's short story that was published in Life magazine in 1968. It was released to a limited theatrical run in 1982 and was never released on tape until 26 years later when it was released on DVD in 2008.
The story is definitely disturbing and much of that was relayed successfully in the film. I thought the quality of the picture was superb! The acting teetered between mediocre and good, however.
I'm sure the film had a much greater impact back in the early eighties when it first came out. Racism was still a raw subject in much of America. The fact it had a limited theatrical release tells me that America was not yet comfortable with the raw message of the film: Once a racist, always a racist.
The reason I chose to watch this film was because I find Sam Fuller's film intriguing and relentlessly disturbing. The strength in this film is in the message, not the quality of filmmaking.
DVD Review: Gripping and intelligent film about the stupidity of racism
Summary: 5 Stars
Sam Fuller was never one to pull punches, and his films always manage to make his message clear. At the same time, his stories (always B stories, always with an element of melodrama, and a heavy dose of pulp, and a low-budget vibe) always also manage to be unique and engaging. This film is no exception.
It is a film about Julie, a young, aspiring actress who adopts a dog and finds out it is no ordinary dog. It is a "white dog" trained from a young age to fear and attack people with black skin. Julie, convinced that the dog is not at fault for its training, finds an animal trainer willing to attempt a rehabilitation. What Fuller achieves by making the dog both Julie's protector and the perpetrator of violence is to generate both sympathy for the animal and anger at its behavior. Fuller's message, in a nutshell, may be to hate (and fight against) racism without at the same time hating the racist. While the dog's training is an obvious metaphor for racism - that aims to show its stupidity and insidiousness, it also, more subtly, makes clear that those who grow up racist inherit their prejudices unthinkingly and should therefore also be considered victims.
Sam Fuller's astonishing technique is to take a very blunt premise and weave it into a story that (however hokey it might seem if merely described) manages to be gripping, and somehow even plausible. Every character offers something unique and memorable, and I found myself thoroughly drawn in by the story. The dialogue works on multiple levels, with several conversations serving as both blunt and powerful lectures to the audience on the evil and stupidity of racism, and plausible conversations between characters that flow out of actual situations. Few directors could pull this off without it seeming hokey and heavyhanded. Sam Fuller manages. An exceptional film by one of the most consistently distinctive independent voices in American cinema.
DVD Review: Horrible B movie
Summary: 1 Stars
I bought this movie thinking this was going to be a gem, having been left unreleased all these years for allegedly its content.
But what a disappointment.
The movie starts off with the dog getting hit. There is no plot development. And from there there is no character development, either. Every character remains shallow and flat. And that horrific loud background music so typical of B movies!!!
The dialogue, the camera, the storyline...all was so boring. The movie was more something that was aired on late-night TV of the 1970s.
The end was predictable.
The message of the movie was well-intended but the final product was an under-performing B movie.
DVD Review: White Dog/Boring Dog
Summary: 2 Stars
Expected more from this movie after reading several reviews. Upon delivery, I found it was not exactly what I expected. I expected alot more action. It dragged and left me wanting my money back!DVD Review: A highly controversial film
Summary: 5 Stars
This review is for the Criterion Collection DVD edition of the film
White Dog is one of the most controversial films of the 1980's and was suppressed due to it's controversy.
The film, loosely based on a true story is about an actress who adopts a stray dog and later discovers that the dog had been trained by to attack and kill black people. African-American actor, Paul Winfield, plays the role of an animal trainer who attempts to rehabilitate the dog.
The film follows both the case of a real actress who this happened to and to the real incidents in the South where racists trained dogs to do such horrific acts.
The film also stars Burl Ives in one of his few film roles.
I liked the film and saw it as a message on how racism is taught, and not inherent. The film was misunderstood and not widely released and this edition is it premiere on home video.
The DVD includes an interview with director Sam Fuller's widow, Christa Lang-Fuller, the film's producer Jon Davison, co-writer Curtis Hanson, and dog trainer, Karl Lewis-Miller. The DVD also includes behind the scenes photographs.
This is a film you won't soon forget.
Description of White Dog - Criterion Collection
Samuel Fuller's throat-grabbing expos? on American racism was misunderstood and withheld from release when it was made in the early eighties; today, the notorious film is lauded for its daring metaphor and gripping pulp filmmaking. Kristy McNichol stars as a young actress who adopts a lost German Shepherd, only to discover through a series of horrifying incidents that the dog has been trained to attack black people, and Paul Winfield plays the animal trainer who tries to cure him. A snarling, uncompromising vision, White Dog is a tragic portrait of the evil done by that most corruptible of animals: the human being.SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES:
New, restored high-definition digital transfer of the uncut version, approved by producer Jon Davison
New video interviews with producer Davison, co-writer Curtis Hanson, and Sam Fuller s widow, Christa Lang-Fuller
An interview with dog trainer Karl Lewis-Miller
Rare photos from the film s production
PLUS: A booklet featuring new essays by critics J. Hoberman and Armond White, plus a rare 1982 interview in which Fuller interviews the canine star of the film
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