White Dog is a polarizing, criminally underrated commentary on racism as a curable way of thinking. The most dehumanizing thing you could do to a race is view them as stereotypical caricatures and writer-director Samuel Fuller recognized this when he made this film. Therefore, to tell his unconventional story, he utilizes characters as metaphors and events as psychiatric tests, beautifully articulating the theory that a racist can be "rebirthed," so to speak, as someone who holds no judgments.
One of the many reasons to appreciate this film is - unlike so many pictures today - this one possesses the courage and gumption to take an idea and gleefully run with it. Samuel Fuller holds up a magnifying glass to his audience, questioning their prejudices and tests their understanding and belief in racist behavior - can it be "cured" or is it there to stay after initial implementation? Fuller uses a beautiful, healthy white German Sheppard as the main character - or device - to try and give substance and justification to these questions. The dog is of an older age and is struck by Julie Sawyer (Kristy McNichol), a young, starving actress in search of work. She takes the dog to a vet where it is seen suffering minor injuries. Not long after Julie takes it home with her - as all other options seem to be unfulfilling - she learns her nameless dog is an attack dog, specifically trained to viciously maul black people. Frustrated and low on options, she takes the dog to a black man named Keys (Paul Winfield), who specializes in training animals, particularly dogs. He knows all about "white dogs" and informs Julie that at the age of a puppy this dog may have been beaten and mistreated by a black man (as directed by a white owner) in order to make the dog "attack black before black can attack hit." Julie is disgusted and angry. Her boyfriend believes the dog should be put down, while Julie (who represents the optimistic side of the "learned racism" debate) believes that it isn't the dog's fault that it was trained to hate. Another elderly white trainer named Carruthers (Burl Ives) also believes the dog is untrainable and, on that notion, should be put down.
Julie decides to let Keys do his best to try and make the dog relearn. What follows is terrific and lengthy sequences of Keys trying to retrain the dog and overwrite its memory. All the while, we, the viewer, are put in a position where numerous questions have already been quietly communicated to us and we have to come up with answers in our head. White Dog challenges the viewer in a mystifying way that is equal parts subtle, manipulative, and brilliant. The film plays with your emotions, but never shamelessly milks the material as sentimental bait.
The only thing that will likely serve as a distraction to viewers are the film's production values, which are obviously cheap and of an independent film budget. However, when a film is this crowded with blunt social commentary and heavy themes, questioning a person's true beliefs and ethics, production values have little importance whatsoever. Few will complain because the film provides such a smooth conversation on racism that the way it is presented doesn't need to be very polished. I'd rather have a low-budget piece of valuable commentary than a glossy, good-looking film with no brain in its head whatsoever.
Racism is a tough subject to tackle in film, and with directors like Paul Haggis unintentionally cheapening the material for easy-consumption and others like Spike Lee clearly passionate about making it believable, a film like White Dog is a true miracle. Fuller's approach to racism and the blunt question it asks a person shouldn't be ignored. We're told in the film that dogs can only see in two colors; what happens when one of them is viewed as an evil color?
Starring: Kristy McNichol, Paul Winfield, Burl Ives, and Jameson Parker. Directed by: Samuel Fuller.
One of the many reasons to appreciate this film is - unlike so many pictures today - this one possesses the courage and gumption to take an idea and gleefully run with it. Samuel Fuller holds up a magnifying glass to his audience, questioning their prejudices and tests their understanding and belief in racist behavior - can it be "cured" or is it there to stay after initial implementation? Fuller uses a beautiful, healthy white German Sheppard as the main character - or device - to try and give substance and justification to these questions. The dog is of an older age and is struck by Julie Sawyer (Kristy McNichol), a young, starving actress in search of work. She takes the dog to a vet where it is seen suffering minor injuries. Not long after Julie takes it home with her - as all other options seem to be unfulfilling - she learns her nameless dog is an attack dog, specifically trained to viciously maul black people. Frustrated and low on options, she takes the dog to a black man named Keys (Paul Winfield), who specializes in training animals, particularly dogs. He knows all about "white dogs" and informs Julie that at the age of a puppy this dog may have been beaten and mistreated by a black man (as directed by a white owner) in order to make the dog "attack black before black can attack hit." Julie is disgusted and angry. Her boyfriend believes the dog should be put down, while Julie (who represents the optimistic side of the "learned racism" debate) believes that it isn't the dog's fault that it was trained to hate. Another elderly white trainer named Carruthers (Burl Ives) also believes the dog is untrainable and, on that notion, should be put down.
Julie decides to let Keys do his best to try and make the dog relearn. What follows is terrific and lengthy sequences of Keys trying to retrain the dog and overwrite its memory. All the while, we, the viewer, are put in a position where numerous questions have already been quietly communicated to us and we have to come up with answers in our head. White Dog challenges the viewer in a mystifying way that is equal parts subtle, manipulative, and brilliant. The film plays with your emotions, but never shamelessly milks the material as sentimental bait.
The only thing that will likely serve as a distraction to viewers are the film's production values, which are obviously cheap and of an independent film budget. However, when a film is this crowded with blunt social commentary and heavy themes, questioning a person's true beliefs and ethics, production values have little importance whatsoever. Few will complain because the film provides such a smooth conversation on racism that the way it is presented doesn't need to be very polished. I'd rather have a low-budget piece of valuable commentary than a glossy, good-looking film with no brain in its head whatsoever.
Racism is a tough subject to tackle in film, and with directors like Paul Haggis unintentionally cheapening the material for easy-consumption and others like Spike Lee clearly passionate about making it believable, a film like White Dog is a true miracle. Fuller's approach to racism and the blunt question it asks a person shouldn't be ignored. We're told in the film that dogs can only see in two colors; what happens when one of them is viewed as an evil color?
Starring: Kristy McNichol, Paul Winfield, Burl Ives, and Jameson Parker. Directed by: Samuel Fuller.