The chemistry between Eddie Peng and his canine co-star led to Peng adopting the dog. Photo / supplied
The chemistry between Eddie Peng and his canine co-star led to Peng adopting the dog. Photo / supplied
The Un Certain Regard prize at Cannes, which recognises emerging talent and innovative storytelling, went to this quietly engrossing Chinese drama with its unexpectedly touching bromance between dog and master.
Former rock star and latterly convicted felon Lang (Taiwanese pop singer and actor Eddie Peng) returns, like a mute prodigalson, to his town of Chixia after a stint in prison.
He is warmly welcomed by many of the locals, except for the Hu family (headed by the ominously named Butcher Hu) who threaten revenge for his crime.
Needing to entice national businesses to open factories in their impoverished town but plagued by hordes of stray dogs roaming the countryside, groups of young men screech around housing estates crying “Aim, catch and scoop!” As they round up the scrawny beasts into cages, Lang attempts to capture one particular rabid black dog that is terrorising the villagers, in exchange for a hefty reward.
A social drama with occasional undertones of crime thriller, Black Dog offers a novel portrait of everyday life in the type of Chinese city that future-focused Beijing forgot. Set in 2008 as the country prepares for its imminent Olympic Games, the townsfolk live simply on the edge of the bleak and dusty Gobi Desert. Lang’s own father is drinking himself to death in the abandoned zoo where a sole tiger sees out its days.
But at the centre of this is an affecting love story of sorts.
Peng is captivating, despite playing a virtually silent hero who expresses little interest in any human, as his attachment to the black dog grows.
Their “chemistry” is so compelling it will come as no surprise that Peng adopted the dog he played alongside ‒ Xin ‒ after filming wrapped.
Director Guan Hu has described his remarkable canine performer as “not just a pet – he’s a character”. Indeed, the black whippet has an extraordinary talent for responding to Lang’s travails and lends emotional weight to every scene – he’s not there to be cute, but as a reciprocal saviour.
Propulsively plotted and utterly adorable every moment that Xin is on screen, Black Dog is an exemplar of a simple premise executed well.
Rating out of five: ★★★★
Black Dog, directed by Guan Hu, is in cinemas now.
