Cheap Man Bites Dog - Criterion Collection (DVD) (Benoît Poelvoorde, Jacqueline Poelvoorde-Pappaert) (André Bonzel, Benoît Poelvoorde, Rémy Belvaux) Price

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Customer Reviews of Man Bites Dog - Criterion Collection

Brutal rape does not an art film make
While I appreciated some of the points made in this film, and its harsh criticism of sensationalist 'real TV', I have a major caveat: this film contains THE MOST BRUTAL RAPE SCENE I HAVE EVER SEEN (ONSCREEN) IN MY LIFE. I think that, while obviously it serves to demonstrate the complete immorality and viciousness of the protagonist/murderer, it is also gratuitous and extremely hazardous to the health of anyone who has gone through sexual violence. I wish I could say that it would bother every human being, but men often seem to go untouched by the cruelties inflicted on women. So. Compelling premise, but stomach-turning content that I don't think anyone should have to see without being aware that it's in there. I saw this movie 5 years ago and it still gives me nightmares. In a bad way.

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Depraved Low Budget Shocker
The Criterion Collection brings film lovers some of the most engaging, challenging pictures ever made. National borders mean little to the folks at this DVD company; they will release American films as readily as they will European cinema or documentaries about African dictators. Moreover, Criterion does not flinch from controversial films because they contain controversial themes. Thanks to this company, we can readily obtain excellent versions of Paul Morrissey's "Flesh for Frankenstein" and "Blood for Dracula" along with the ultra violent "Robocop." I have yet to fully explore the depths of Criterion's film catalog, but their other discs must surely be as interesting as the titles I have viewed so far. Criterion finally released one of my favorite foreign films, the independent little gem entitled "C'est Arrive Pres de Chez Vous," oddly translated as "Man Bites Dog." Made in Belgium a little over a decade ago, this fascinating movie viciously satirizes the media and its love for dramatic violence. Criterion not only presents this movie with a heap of extras, they also restored the film to its uncut form. This is important because the version I watched nearly ten years ago was missing two scenes that are arguably the most shocking parts in the entire film.

Filmed entirely in the style of a black and white documentary, "Man Bites Dog" is an often outrageous excursion into the underground world of a sadistic thug named Benoit, a travelogue of the daily activities and random thoughts of a bloodthirsty sociopath. Most of the time he robs the elderly of their pensions, commits burglaries, drinks himself silly, or kills innocent people for no other reason than that he feels like it. In several scenes we see Ben instructing the film crew on how to weigh down bodies so they will not float when he dumps the corpses into an abandoned rock quarry. His associates are mostly a rather seedy lot: he often visits an aging woman of questionable virtue and hangs out with an obnoxious boxer. Good old Benny is not above suddenly killing a pal in a fit of rage, or giving an old woman a fatal heart attack by screaming at the top of his lungs into her face. This guy is a piece of work, but what truly makes the film painful to watch is how Benoit gradually lures the filmmakers into sharing his gruesome crimes.

In a way, and this is the real genius of "Man Bites Dog," the viewer can sometimes understand why the documentarians become involved in Benoit's shenanigans. Even as he commits the most despicable of crimes, this hooligan is truly a charming character with many endearing traits. He often waxes philosophic about such disparate topics as architecture and poetry, has a lady friend who takes him to art galleries, and his generosity to the filmmakers chronicling his life knows no bounds. Benny is always willing to buy a drink or pitch in to help pay for more film because he enjoys the company of his newfound buddies. Watching this guy play with children in the street even though he committed an atrocious crime against a youth in another scene presents the documentarians, and by extension the viewer, with a moral quandary not easily resolved. Benoit does not represent what Hannah Arendt referred to as the "banality of evil" but rather an "ambiguity of evil," and it makes pigeonholing this character at times extremely problematic. To make it even more difficult for the viewer to hate Benoit, his likeable mother and grandfather appear from time to time. But abhor him you will, especially after seeing the aftermath of a robbery in the suburbs and an encounter with a couple in an apartment after an all-night drunk. "Man Bites Dog" is a challenging film.

Even worse, this movie is often quite funny in the way only the blackest of comedies can achieve. Benoit's overdramatic French dialogue is a scream, and many of his views on life are just downright hysterical. You cannot help but laugh when Benoit forces the camera crew to rebury bodies that have suddenly reappeared when the quarry goes dry. I think one of the funniest scenes in the movie occurs when a member of the documentary crew dies as a result of Benoit's activities and we see a member of the crew eulogize him on camera. When another filmmaker dies later in the film, this same guy performs another eulogy nearly indistinguishable from the first one. I have never felt as guilty about laughing during a film as I have with this one because I knew I just should not, could not, dared not find this amusing, but in the end I just could not help myself from giggling over Ben's antics.

The extras on the Criterion disc are not all that impressive. There is a film short starring the actor who played Benoit that is not that good, an interview with the filmmakers that is rather short and does not reveal much about the film, a still gallery, and some reviews concerning the movie. The transfer quality of the picture is excellent, though, as are the subtitles for this French language film. As far as I know, we have never seen anything further from the people responsible for "Man Bites Dog." Perhaps these guys were one hit wonders, and if so that is a darn shame. This movie is so brilliantly conceived and executed that it is difficult to imagine that whoever made it would slide into obscurity.

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It will shock you, but you won't mind.
The Criterion Collection unearths yet another gem in the large spectrum that is foreign film. This movie would never have even been released in America given the nature of the plotline and in-your-face brutality contained within. The movie is a mockumentary of sorts, as a camera crew follows and documents the everyday life of the ever likable Benoit. Too bad he's a serial killer.

There will be many times that you will laugh...and feel incredibly bad for doing so as all the humor centers around Ben's choice of work. I do feel that I should warn people that some of the material may be considered offensive or just plain to brutal for a weak stomach. I read one review mention a brutal rape scene, and indeed one is included in the film, but I must say that the reviewer exaggerates a bit and most likely has never seen Irreversible which contains the most brutal rape scene I have ever seen.

It isn't the humor or shock value that makes this movie stand out though. It is the implied message that hits home. And that is the lack of morality within the media (example: The use of ultra violence and sex to sell). Also I feel I should mention that the film makers themselves do an excellent job on the super low budget that they had to work with, even using themselves in the role of all the main characters. I recommend this movie to anyone who is interested in social commentaries (Natural Born Killers is a good example) or to anyone who is interested in expanding their minds and movie palette.