Finally! Finally, cinemas reopen their doors this Monday, June 22. After a wait of more than three months, moviegoers will once again lock themselves in cinemas to discover superb cinematographic works. To accompany this reopening, The Jokers is planning the release of We, the Dogs, a South Korean animated film that is certainly worth seeing. Directed by Oh Sung-yoon and Lee Choon-Baek, We, the Dogs tells the story of a dog abandoned by his masters, who returns to the wild. He will then meet a group of stray dogs who will teach him the basics of living in freedom.
A story of independence
We dogs have a strong educational value. Through a heartbreaking introduction, the two filmmakers stage the horror of abandonment. They enter the head of the animal who finds himself left to himself, abandoned by his former masters. The film, with this terrible opening, instantly creates empathy for the dog. An introduction strong in emotions, very well controlled, with a non-negligible pedagogical scope. Once this ordeal is over, the story completely changes its tone. We Dogs constantly borrows from Jack London's recently adapted film The Call of the Forest. Because the story decides to go towards the taking of independence, the concept of liberation, the collapse of barriers. Through their plot, the two filmmakers depict notions of liberation from established dogma, a return to saving sources, an acceptance of one's status to better recover, advance and evolve. In this, We, the dogs is an extremely positive film, which ultimately speaks of the attack on the forbidden freedom.
A very political film
The film tells of a rebellion of the poorest social classes. It addresses a concept of system collapse with a return to simplicity. We the Dogs is ultimately a very political narrative. Animals are the representation of the people, of the popular class, totally neglected by the system, the government and the powerful. The feature film tells how the poorest are left to fend for themselves, stuck in a system that is suffocating and offers no solution. We dogs advocate a return to simplicity. Oh Sung-yoon and Lee Choon-Baek suggest abandoning current thinking to change our lifestyle, our consumption, to turn to a more ecological and natural life. Turning your back on this society that is constantly biting its tail. This metaphor is really well thought out and works perfectly. Use the prism of the animal to talk about our own reality and a suffocating way of life. And above all to advocate a return to a cleaner life, where unnecessarily complicated administrative complexity would be abolished.
A film sometimes too childish
Unfortunately, We the dogs is sometimes too childish to totally convince the older ones. This initiatory story has a serious soft underbelly in the middle of its advance. Similarly, the characters are quite simplistic, not fully developed and very monolithic. Universal figures certainly, but also very caricature. The feature film finally lacks finesse in its treatment, quite simplistic. If its relationship to society is interesting, the pure development of the plot is eagerly awaited. It's a story seen a million times, from the animal's return to the wild. The approach of Oh Sung-yoon and Lee Choon-Baek offers nothing innovative, nothing original. We, the dogs is a film without surprises, which lacks thickness and depth. However, there remains a very impressive finale, in which the two filmmakers show a real artistic vision. A visually superb denouement, which offers a stunning final sequence, heroic, exciting, perfectly rhythmic, impressive, which brings a real feeling of the power of liberation finally achieved. We, the Dogs is therefore overall a success. Despite a sometimes too childish approach and a soft belly in the middle of the story. The feature film is an ode to freedom with a powerful ecological value. The opening scene and the finale are thus grandiose.
We the Dogs – Trailer
https://youtu.be/qxaPmqrpag4