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Dogtooth
Κυνόδοντας
2009 · Film · 98 min
Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos
Three teenagers are confined to an isolated country estate that could very well be on another planet. The trio spend their days listening to endless homemade tapes that teach them a whole new vocabulary. Any word that comes from beyond their family abode is instantly assigned a new meaning. Hence 'the sea' refers to a large armchair and 'zombies' are little yellow flowers. Having invented a brother whom they claim to have ostracized for his disobedience, the uber-controlling parents terrorize their offspring into submission.
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6 comments on Hacker News
At least in the book this link summarizes, it looks beyond anarchism and isn't written through that lens specifically
There's a new film out I just saw at TIFF by Tsangari who produced DOGTOOTH by Yorgos Lanthimos called HARVEST with Caleb Landry Jones, anyhow it's a telling of the early days of the Inclosure Act, an interesting period of transition, performed w anachronistic timelessness
There have been plenty of great, original movies post-2010 that push filmmaking in some way, they’re just overshadowed by the marvels of the world. Some of my recent favorites:
Tar
Sorry to Bother You
Uncut Gems
Get Out
Tangerine/The Florida Project
Dogtooth
Mad God
There is a Greek movie based on the exact same idea. Its the "Alps" by George Lanthimos (later known from "Dogtooth" movie).
I don't about Japan, but that movie had a quite depressing ending (not to mention that the whole thing was kinda creepy and unsettling).
Well, that's sort of my point. I don't think there is a good solution to empower some entity to decide what values and intents are acceptable.
But I don't think the values and intents of parents keeping their kids at home for schooling are always acceptable, which is emphasized in an exaggerated way in the Dogtooth film.
I'm sure in some cases homeschooling could be beneficial and "better" for an individual child than the existing school system. I just think mistaking homeschooling as an "alternative" to trying to solve problems of the school system is its own dangerous path.
But wouldn't trying to solve some of these problems make more sense than a turn toward homeschooling? Maybe get more mature, self-actualized people involved in the lives of all children, not just the privileged ones?
I don't see how promoting homeschooling as the alternative to schools is a good solution here.
Also, a turn toward homeschooling can be a total wildcard based on the values and intent of the individual parents. The movie Dogtooth[1] is somewhat relevant here.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dogtooth_(film)
> I'm not holding my breath on Hollywood. If movies have hope, it's from the indy scene doing interesting things on small budgets.
Yes, and foreign films from some of the worlds great directors like Pedro Almodovar, Michael Haneke, Claire Denis, and Fatih Akin. Some of the best of cinema is coming from as you mentioned independent projects, and foreign titles like A Prophet (Un prophete) and Dogtooth (Kynodontas).