Guan Hu’s melancholic tale, Black Dog, seems to be a quiet statement at the festivals this season, trying to make its feeble voice heard amongst the loud clamor around the more prominent contenders. The tale of a man and a dog begins when the dog appears first as a nuisance, then as a golden goose, and finally as the surest companion amidst a rapidly altering face of a sleepy town. The story, almost allegorical in nature, does not rely too heavily on dialogue or conversations.
Spoilers Ahead
What is the film about?
Black Dog opens with the singular act of a passenger minibus being overturned by a sudden ambush of a horde of stray dogs in the Gobi desert. The bus is carrying our protagonist, Lang Yonghui. Recently released from jail, Lang heads back to his hometown on the outskirts of the desert. On his first day back in town, he is threatened by a menacing black dog who displays hostility towards him. However, upon learning that prize money has been announced for the person who successfully traps the dog, Lang goes after it without a care for his life. Lang, a skilled motorcyclist before he was imprisoned, is advised by his neighbor and other townspeople to meet his ailing father, who lives at the zoo.
As part of the new city planning, several old residents of the town were forced to leave their homes. This sudden abandonment has lent the town a ghostly atmosphere. Soon, the city theater and the zoo would be dismantled too. Lang’s house would not be spared as well. However, Lang’s father has refused to leave his zoo. Lang is finding it hard to reintegrate into this community, which seems so closed and alien. Soon after Lang’s departure, the circus closed too and his friends found jobs elsewhere. To make ends meet, Lang joins the patrol squad formed to expunge the town of its stray dog population. For the rogue men of the squad, the task becomes a display of their machismo. Lang, however, surreptitiously helps some of the dogs escape.
Soon the skinny black dog, thought to have rabies, is trapped by the men and caged. Lang is assigned the duty of carrying it away to the shelter. While driving through the desert, Lang’s car is tossed by the sandstorm. He cares for the dog and helps it survive the harsh weather. In the process, he gets bitten by the dog again. He is almost sure that he is about to die this time. His friend advises him to quarantine. As Lang recuperates from his fever, he gives care and time to the dog and builds a beautiful bond of trust and compassion with the animal. Amidst all this, an old enmity resurfaces as the local butcher, Hu, turns vengeful towards Lang and his dog. We learn that Hu’s nephew was killed by Lang, and it is for this crime that the latter was sent to prison.
What happens after the people are asked to move away from the town?
Soon, the circus workers are asked to move away following the inception of the town restructuring plan. As the city demolition and the mass relocation begins, people gather in large numbers to leave. The zoo animals, on the other hand, are set free. Perhaps the most evocative visual reference emerges when the film introduces a series of parallel cuts that vividly capture the people’s migration and the animals’ takeover of the town. Lang’s companion, the black dog, is found injured in an accident after having been missing for a while. Butcher Hu is not the culprit here. As Lang tends to his wounds, a female dog approaches the black dog and forms a bond with it. One morning, Lang finds the black dog missing again from his bed. He begins his desperate search for the dog. When he does reach him, he is shattered to see him breathing his last. Lang carries the lifeless body of the animal and buries it in the Gobi desert with proper respect. Soon, the female dog gives birth to a litter of pups. To Lang, the foremost priority is now to help the pups survive and beat the odds like their father.
What Happens To Lang’s Father?
Lang’s father, due to his alcoholism, has landed in the hospital in a miserable state. Lang knows he will not survive, and we see him proclaiming the same to his sister. In the final moments of the film, we see him trying to wet his unresponsive father’s lips with water (or perhaps, alcohol) to keep him hydrated. However, in just the following shot, Lang is seen tinkering with the pipes attached to the man’s neck. Although it might be factually incorrect to proclaim that Lang helped the man pass away, the logic behind such an assumption is not entirely outlandish. Lang, with no house or money, would not be able to bear the cost of treatment for the man. Like his father’s request to set free the big cat of the zoo, Lang sets the dying man free as he knows he cannot take care of him. The countdown to the opening of the Beijing Olympics is juxtaposed with the final countdown of his life. In a way, it is also an allegory for the old traditional way of life and living being superseded by the more modern urban development.
Who does Lang take on his journey towards a new life?
In the wake of all that has transpired, it is now time for Lang to move away from the town in search of a new life. Knowing fully well that his father would not be able to accompany him, he leaves him behind. He hits the road with his bike and a backpack. Lang approaches the broken bridge where he was taken by Butcher as a hostage earlier. Reverberating the man’s words that whoever survives the fall would be lucky, Lang takes a leap with his bike. However, he leaves his bag safely on the other end before undertaking this stunt. A seasoned stuntman, Lang survives the fall and happily drives away. Finally, we get to see who has been hiding in the bag—the little pup of the black dog. With the pup, Lang embarks on a journey away from the dying town. He knows that the changing dynamics of the town would be difficult to adjust to. It would also be difficult for him to bear witness to the blatant tearing away of the memories in the name of development. He has to begin his life somewhere, so he chooses a place away from the town. The end also reads as a promise to his deceased animal companion to give his offspring a better chance at life.
