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Movies / On DVD / Dog Days
Dog Days

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Dog Days (2002)

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48 %
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Reviews Counted:33

Fresh:16

Rotten:17

Average Rating:5.4/10

Consensus: A relentlessly disturbing, depressing work.

Runtime: 2 hrs 1 min

Genre: Foreign Films

Synopsis: DOG DAYS is a scathing satire, exposing the ugly underbelly of contemporary suburban mores. It is the first dramatic feature of notorious documentarian Ulrich Seidl (ANIMAL LOVE). With a keen... DOG DAYS is a scathing satire, exposing the ugly underbelly of contemporary suburban mores. It is the first dramatic feature of notorious documentarian Ulrich Seidl (ANIMAL LOVE). With a keen visual sense and lacerating wit, Seidl weaves together the sordid tales of a large group of people in suburban Austria during a heat wave. There's the Greek divorced couple who continue to live together, miserable and haunted by the memory of their young daughter's death. There's the alarm system salesman who has to find a scapegoat when the cars in a housing complex that he has serviced are vandalized. There's the desperate older woman whose sadistic boyfriend brings a friend along to watch him humiliate her. There's the elderly control freak who weighs every item he's bought at the supermarket when he gets home. Tying them all together is Anna (Maria Hofstatter), who hitches rides to nowhere, verbally assaulting those who pick her up with a constant barrage of inane top ten lists, advertising jingles, and embarrassing personal questions. Seidl gets solid performances from his cast, many of whom are not professional actors. For those who can stomach it, he offers a compelling glimpse of hell on earth. This film was included in the 31st New Directors/New Films 2002 series presented by The Film Society of Lincoln Center and The Department of Film and Media of The Museum of Modern Art in New York City. [More]

Starring: Maria Hofstatter, Christine Jirku, Victor Henneman, Georg Friedrich

Starring: Maria Hofstatter, Christine Jirku, Victor Henneman, Georg Friedrich, Alfred Mrva, Erich Finsches, Gerti Lehner, Franziska Weiss, Rene Wanko, Claudia Martini, Victor Rathbone

Director: Ulrich Seidl

Director: Ulrich Seidl
Screenwriter: Ulrich Seidl, Veronika Franz
Producer: Helmut Grasser, Philippe Bober

[See More Credits]

Reviews for Dog Days

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
12/30/06
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
01/26/06
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Sight and Sound | comment Comment
10/06/04
Sight and Sound
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | comment Comment
10/02/02
Guardian [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Missing ... is any real feeling of compassion towards these forlorn individuals, any sense of the humanity that lies beneath the grotesque façades.

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
08/26/02
Tom Dawson
Tom Dawson
BBC
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

lewd and lurid

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
07/30/09
Chris Cabin
Chris Cabin
Filmcritic.com

Director Ulrich Seidl presents a mean spirited satire of Austrian suburbia in this ugly movie that is quite possibly the worst film (foreign or domestic) of 2003.

Full Review Source: ColeSmithey.com | comment Comment
04/19/09
Cole Smithey
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com

Dark, probing, and truly disturbing, Seidl's astonishing feature debut explores angst, anomie, and alientaion in Vienna's upscale suburbs in visually audacious mode that goes beyond Todd Solondz and Todd Haynes.

Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com | comment Comment
06/13/06
Emanuel Levy
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Jam! Movies | comment Comment
10/06/04
Jam! Movies
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

...it's the second half that kills Dog Days.

Full Review Source: Reel Film Reviews | comment Comment
10/06/04
David Nusair
David Nusair
Reel Film Reviews

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: San Jose Mercury News | comment Comment
10/06/04
Glenn Lovell
Glenn Lovell
San Jose Mercury News

Stylistically void, intellectually vapid, narratively coarse, and exploitative of its actors in the worst possible way, the film is an abject failure on every level.

Full Review Source: Not Coming to a Theater Near You | comment Comment
05/15/04
Matt Bailey
Matt Bailey
Not Coming to a Theater Near You

A remarkable, deeply disturbing work by a brilliant filmmaker.

Full Review Source: Chicago Tribune | comment Comment
02/04/04
Michael Wilmington
Michael Wilmington
Chicago Tribune

Oddly compelling, disturbing -- some might say disturbed -- look at suburban life, Austrian style.

Full Review Source: Houston Chronicle | comment Comment
01/29/04
Eric Harrison
Eric Harrison
Houston Chronicle

Mosaic filmmaking at its most irresolute... [its few affecting] moments are antiseptic, sealed off from any larger relatable context or emotional arc.

Full Review Source: Entertainment Today | comment Comment
01/12/04
Brent Simon
Brent Simon
Entertainment Today

Those who know that human beings are more than just the sum of their worst impulses ... will wonder where the rest of the story went.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Daily News | comment Comment
01/09/04
Bob Strauss
Bob Strauss
Los Angeles Daily News

'People can be so cruel,' one character says after finding a poisoned animal. Judging by Dog Days, so can movie directors.

Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment Comment
01/09/04
Kevin Courrier
Kevin Courrier
Boxoffice Magazine

Strangely entertaining.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
01/08/04
Manohla Dargis
Manohla Dargis
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

What some detect as cruelty in Dog Days is in fact a bleak but deeply felt humanism -- a yearning that we might all learn to better love our neighbors and, perhaps more importantly, ourselves.

Full Review Source: L.A. Weekly | comment Comment
01/08/04
Scott Foundas
Scott Foundas
L.A. Weekly

A masterpiece of misanthropy...an uncompromisingly bleak reverie on human misery and meanness.

Full Review Source: One Guy's Opinion | comment Comment
12/30/03
Frank Swietek
Frank Swietek
One Guy's Opinion
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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