How do you handle a pack of barking dogs? The same way you handle a gang of drug dealers. The same way you handle an informant or your girlfriend. Control is the key to this superb quasi-horror movie that starts with the weirdest use of silverware in the history of cinematography and ends with an eviscerated Police (also a dog). It's all about control, about acquiring, maintaining and abusing power. In "Dogs," control of border town smugglers is exerted via verbal and physical terror. The audience however is subjected to a more subtle version of manipulation, via simple questions such as "Did you have a hammer?" We are all under the spell of Bogdan Mirica's brilliance and monitored anger. Mirica doesn't leave anything to chance: he wrote the script, directed, edited and picked up the actors with the talent and fervor of a master creator. And what can I say other than: Terrific movie!
Gheorge Visu carefully constructs a policeman (Hogas) using small gestures and soft syllables, barely moving, calmly shifting the attention to other characters, with a most impressing minimalism and modesty. His exceptional performance is only matched by Vlad Ivanov's portrayal of the smugglers' ring leader Samil, the alpha dog. If there was justice in this world, these two actors would have been already on the front page of international cinema magazines. Dragos Bucur and Raluca Aprodu seem out of place, which is in fact consistent with the nature of their characters - big city people lost in the middle of nowhere.
So, pay attention! Here is what you have to do: buy tickets, go watch this movie, take detailed notes, and then write down two hundred times "I hate dogs!" It is all about control.
