Dogman is all about Marcello, the world’s most lovable dog groomer

By James Saunders, Third Year Film & TV

The Italian entry for Best Foreign Language Film at next year’s Oscars, Dogman is a personal tale featuring a wonderfully odd concoction of cocaine, dogs, and gore.

The exposition in Dogman is swiftly, carefully and beautifully rolled out for those who meet the film’s efforts halfway. Garrone succeeds at delivering important information through visual elements, only using dialogue when it’s essential.

Even from its first shot we are able to gauge the tone of the film; we are abruptly thrown face to face with a giant, violently barking bulldog, but then immediately receive a laugh as we see it relax as it’s washed and cleaned by our main protagonist, Marcello (Marcello Fonte), who owns a dog care store. The sudden shift from one polar opposite to the other in the first 30 seconds of the film instantly tells us what we can expect for the remainder of this dark comedy.

As we proceed to shadow Marcello, we learn of his popularity within the somewhat dystopian hometown he inhabits. This popularity is justified to the audience during the first act of the film, introducing us to various positive areas of his life. We meet his daughter, Alida (Alida Baldari Calabria), and witness his enthusiastic and supportive role as a father. We also watch as he naturally interacts with the dogs he cares for at work, displaying a genuine passion for looking after them.

However, the crux of Marcello’s popularity with some of his peers comes from the cocaine he deals them behind closed doors, especially with Simoncino (Edoardo Pesce), our main antagonist. Simoncino is reminiscent of the bulldog from the opening scene; he stands tall and broad, using violence and aggression as a means to get his own way and acting eerily calm when he does. Marcello represents the traditional idea of a beta-male compared to the unpopular and feared Simoncino, so throughout the film we observe how this affects their unconventional friendship and Marcello’s reputation.

Stylistically, Dogman accomplishes stunning cinematography despite its uninspired colour palette. The frequent use of a shallow depth of field for close up shots isolates his face from the background, forcing us to essentially watch the entire film through his facial emotion. Even at points in the film where our initial reaction may lead us to want to see something else going on around Marcello, we often stay on his face.

It may sound frustrating, but Garrone does such a great job of making us like Marcello that we are enticed by his naivety and innocence; we want to protect him, we want to learn more about him. All of this is helped immensely by Marcello Fonte’s incredible realisation of the character, which earned him the ‘Best Actor’ award at Cannes Film Festival 2018.

Due to the intensive focus surrounding Marcello, I left the cinema feeling that Simoncino was slightly underdeveloped as an antagonist. It could be justified by saying that the importance lies within Marcello’s story and not Simoncino’s, but the pair are so heavily involved with each other during the narrative that it seems disappointing to leave Simoncino’s motives so unexplored. A little extra insight into his past and motivations could have added another gripping aspect to an already stellar script.

Director Matteo Garrone manages to wrangle impressive cinematography, award-winning acting and almost perfect pacing into 1 hour and 34 minutes of comedy, dogs and gory violence, all whilst introducing audiences to one of the most lovable protagonists of film this year.

Dogman is showing at Watershed until Thursday 25 October.

Featured Image: Watershed / Dogman / Archimede

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