what the average french film student's mind looks like
Cinemas
Directed by Rémy Belvaux +2
Man Bites Dog
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A gritty, dark comedy.
Comedy
Crime
1992
1h 36m
The activities of rampaging, indiscriminate serial killer Ben are recorded by a willingly complicit documentary team, who eventually become his accomplices and active participants. Ben provides casual commentary on the nature of his work and arbitrary musings on topics of interest to him, such as music or the conditions of low-income housing, and even goes so far as to introduce the documentary crew to his family. But their reckless indulgences soon get the better of them.
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Cast & crew
5What people say
As far as dark satire goes, they don't get much grimmer than this. In this fake documentary a film crew follows a serial killer in order to understand his methodology and the way his mind works. In following him we get to see some gruesome murders, some hilarious dialogue but, more importantly, it also tries to say something. I love the wryness of this kind of humour. It is anything but subtle and it is as dark as it gets. Even though it is rather violent, it never is graphic. The comedy the writers have found in the situations presented to us is simply fantastic.This isn't merely fun though. The further we get in the film the more we see lines crossed as the boundaries between what is right and wrong start to vanish for everyone involved. This is done subtly in the beginning and concludes in a fantastic way.All this is great, but what makes it special is a powerhouse central performance by Benoît Poelvoorde. The matter-of-factness of his violence and the outbursts of anger are fantastic.This is an intriguing and engaging mockumentary and it, for me, ranks as one of the best.
A psychopathic serial killer carries out his business with a film crew behind him documenting everything. It's all fun and games until the crew starts participating. A unique low-budget mockumentary, if not one of the best of its genre.The film is dark, but not, oh-look-how-dark-and-edgy-I-am, dark. It's what films like August Underground failed to be. People tend to think the gorier your scenes are the more shock value you have, along came Man Bites Dog to prove these amateurs wrong. Benoit poelvoorde plays a killer who manages to repel every cliche thrown at his role, he aims his guns at old people because they make easier targets. He's both cruel and efficient, charming, too. He can recite poems, and murdered a cardiac patient by shouting to save his bullets. Fascinating, really.I feel like the three directors Benoit, Remy, and Andre (who, quite interestingly, also star as themselves in this) started filming with only a rough draft, and that the rest was improvised. I'd like to believe that's true because all the actors looked so genuine, the flow of events were so natural it's really hard to tell what was planned and what was not. Regardless of a few goofs which are rather easy to spot (corpses that blink!), Man Bites Dog deserves every bit of its 4.5 rating.Part of Axel's Project
Common questions
What is Man Bites Dog about?+
A film crew follows a charismatic serial killer named Ben, eventually crossing the line from passive observers to active participants in his violent crimes.
Who directed Man Bites Dog?+
Rémy Belvaux, André Bonzel, and Benoît Poelvoorde co-directed this 1992 Belgian dark comedy, which won the International Critics' Prize at the Cannes Film Festival.
Has Man Bites Dog won any awards?+
Yes, it won the International Critics' Prize at the 1992 Cannes Film Festival.
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