God Man Dog

The Review

The multi-narrative movie is a curious genre of our times. The mundane and commonplace may not be the biggest of box office draws, but when you have several mundane storylines going on in a film, it becomes a little more interesting. When those storylines begin to intertwine and spark off each other, then it becomes downright compelling. When a couple of those storylines aren't so mundane… well you probably have a hit on your hands, and will be reaping rewards come award season. I've managed to steer clear of this particular genre for a few years now, and films like Short Cuts and 21 Grams have passed me by. But I did review the engrossing 13 Conversations About One Thing a few years ago, and of course, the granddaddy of them all, Pulp Fiction. Now, God Man Dog comes my way, courtesy of Terracotta Films, only this one has 'Made in Taiwan' stamped on it.


The tales weaved into this narrative plait… A hand model suffers from post natal depression, is becoming more and more estranged from her architect husband, and then tragedy strikes. A couple tries to quit drinking alcohol, so that they can be reunited with their estranged children. Their daughter trains to be a kickboxer, but gets drawn into the seedier side of life with her aspiring model roommate. A one-legged truck driver earns money by driving the shrine on the back of his truck to various festivals, in the hope of buying a new prosthetic. He has a soft spot for abandoned Buddha statues, and stray dogs. As the film progresses, these stories and characters begin to affect each other in strange and unexpected ways.


Films of this type work best when the character stories are engaging. It also helps if the contrived coincidence that links these stories together isn't too obvious. At no point should the narrative appear to move the characters. It should look effortless, not clumsy. God Man Dog suffers deficits in both these areas, and while there were moments of brilliance, brief sections that I found entertaining, overall the film was a mild disappointment. The story of the young mother, whose post natal depression threatens to drive her family apart, is probably the most accessible of the tales, certainly it's the one that many people can relate to, and it's a powerful, dramatic and occasionally heart-wrenching tale. You'd think the same would be true for the couple trying to quit the booze, but that is played more for laughs, probably to contrast the first story, but it does seem vaguely ridiculous at times. The one-legged truck driver's tale is probably the most bizarre of all, but as he collects small gods, helps stray dogs, and works to earn enough for a new prosthetic, it becomes clear that he is the magic, the gravitational centre around which all the other stories orbit. The kickboxer turned S&M bandit offers fewer smiles, but the biggest drag to the film I found, was the character of a teenage runaway, who survives by entering eating contests, and selling off the prizes for money. Most of these stories I didn't find interesting, and the contrivances that link them together were glaringly obvious. There were moments in the film where I was painfully aware that what happened on screen was solely to advance the plots, and didn't make all that much sense for the characters.


God Man Dog is a curious film, and I found moments of it sparked my imagination, while other moments left me cold. It's similarly uneven in terms of cast performance, with some of the younger members of the cast not quite on the same page as the more established actors. It's worth a look if you're curious, but I wouldn't expect too much from God Man Dog.

The Disc

Beats me! You'll have to take potluck on the day of release. I got a single layer DVD-R that glitched its way through the movie. It had a letterboxed picture, zoom unfriendly subtitles, 2.0 sound, and a 'don't copy this' watermark in the corner. I did not have a good time watching this disc. The final retail disc should have some extras, but I wouldn't know about that.