Man Bites Dog Review

MAN BITES DOG is a cinema verite-style mockumentary satire of the highest calibre. Sudden bursts of disturbing violence and sadistic brutality mesh with bleakly humorous moments of dark satire - all shot in stark black and white photography. Made by Belgian filmmakers Remy Belvaux, Andre Bonzel, and Benoit Poelvoorde and released amid a storm of controversy as well as critical acclaim, MAN BITES DOG would go on to win the International Critics Prize at Cannes in 1992. It's basically about a documentary crew making a film about the day-to-day life of a serial killer named Ben (played by Benoit Poelvoorde). Beneath the surface, it's a satire on media violence and the struggles of making a film with no money. But unlike Oliver Stone's satire on media violence, NATURAL BORN KILLERS, where the message was always "in your face", MAN BITES DOG's satire is subtle and just below the surface. I think it works better this way. Because the film is seen solely through the eye of the documentary camera, this makes the viewer feel like they're a part of the camera crew; and in the scenes of violence, brutality and murder it puts the viewer into the role of co-conspirator along with the rest of the documentary crew. Michael Haneke's 1997 film FUNNY GAMES plays with the viewer in a similar way, except in that film you feel more like a voyeur rather than conspirator. There's a point in MAN BITES DOG where the serial killer Ben becomes more than just the subject of the documentary. In essence he becomes the producer as well when the documentary crew accepts money from him in order to finish the film. By this time the crew have ceased to be subjectively documenting Ben's actions and are now willing participants in his madness (as is the viewer). This brings to my mind the Italian mondo documentary films like AFRICA ADDIO, where the filmmakers were accused of staging certain atrocities for the benefit of the camera, rather than documenting natural events; which also brings to mind CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST with its cinema-verite film-within-a-film mocking the same Italian mondos. The ending of MAN BITES DOG is also remarkably similar to the way CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST ends. I also noticed a reference to A CLOCKWORK ORANGE during the disturbing home invasion/rape scene. Even with all these references, whether intentional or not, this is still an extremely original film which should be seen by all adventuresome viewers.

9/10