Dogman

The hotly anticipated and award-winning new crime thriller from internationally-heralded writer/director Matteo Garrone (Gomorrah), Dogman is a hugely compelling, based-on-fact tale of a gentle dog lover driven to take a stand against a local bully.

In a dilapidated Neapolitan suburb, the pint-sized, mild-mannered Marcello (Marcello Fonte) runs the dog-grooming business of the film’s title, caring for the neighbourhood pooches, and raising his young daughter, Alida, for whom who he’d do anything to spoil. But he’s in thrall to one of his customers, Simone (Edoardo Pesce, Fortunata LIFF17), a petty criminal and former boxer who throws his substantial bulk around this tight-knit community at every opportunity. Marcello soon becomes swept up in a criminal plan he wants nothing to do with…

Meticulously directed and photographed, and entirely sympathetic to its four-legged cast-members (none of whom are harmed), Garrone’s bravura noir is also impeccably performed, with Marcello Fonte’s extraordinary performance awarded Best Actor at Cannes. Based on true story, and gripping from start to finish, it’s another electrifying vision from one of Italy’s finest filmmakers.

Not screening in Perth.