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| Rémy
Belvaux, André Bonzel, Benoît Poelvoorde |
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| Benoît
Poelvoorde, Jacqueline Poelvoorde-Pappaert, Nelly Pappaert,
Hector Pappaert , Jenny Drye, Malou Madou, Willy Vandenbroeck,
Rachel Deman, Rémy Belvaux, André Bonzel |
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Anamorphic
widescreen |
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Dolby Digital
5.1 |
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DTS |
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Trailer(s) |
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Featurette(s) |
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Documentary |
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Audio commentary
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Deleted scenes
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Concept art
/ storyboards |
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Multi-angle
feature |
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Ben (Benoît Poelvoorde):
I'm not a lunatic, you know.
Two filmmakers shooting a documentary
about a psychotic serial killer find themselves drawn into their
subject matter.
 Man
Bites Dog (original title: C'est Arrivé Près
de Chez Vous) was the second film to appear in 1993 that featured
scenes of unsettling violence that were in some cases played for
laughs and implicated the audience itself in others. Its style,
methods and implications were leagues removed from Reservoir
Dogs, the other much-discussed film of that year, but overzealous
film critics were soon writing about a new movement in international
cinema quickly dubbed the Nouvelle Violence. As with most
of these made-up movements, the nouvelle violence ceased
to exist almost as soon as it had been identified.
The Belgian students who made Man Bites Dog haven't been
heard of since, which isn't all that surprising as the film has
little to offer besides a cleverly executed practical joke. The
film succeeded in catching viewers off-guard not only by making
their ruthless killer wry wit who's fun to watch, but by implicating
the audience by hav ing the documentary film crew befriend him and
even join in with his raping and killing. It's all intentionally
distasteful and occasionially even hard to watch. But the film's
shock value diminishes upon a second viewing, and there isn't enough
of interest going on in the movie to sustain the viewer's attention.
It makes Man Bites Dog a curiosity rather than a significant
film, a footnote in the annals of film history. |
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Movie-only releases with mediocre transfers
are available for Region 2 in various territories. The Region 1
release from the Criterion Collection - which served as a basis
for this review - has by far the better image quality available
as well as som extras on-board.
The anamorphic widescreen image
is windowboxed at an aspect ratio of approx. 1.66:1. Image quality
is as good as could be expected from a low-budget hand-held production
like this. There is quite a bit of visible grain, all of which is
part and parcel to the style chosen for the feature.
The mono
sound mix is clearly defined and well-presented, even if it
is severely limited by the tinny quality of the source materials.
This DVDD release more or less reproduces
the selection of extras originally produced for the LaserDisc release
in 1995. The nine minutes of interviews with the filmmakers
were recorded for that release, and are unfortunately rather inarticulate,
as these francophone Belgians attempt to speaks English with results
that are only barely intelligible. A photo presentation offers
a nicely presented but also rather limited look behind the scenes.
The only other extra of any substance is the twelve-minute short
No C4 for Daniel-Daniel, a mock trailer for a superhero/spy
movie spoof. It's amusing at times but soon wears out its welcome.
The theatrical trailer rounds out these minor extras. Immaculately
designed menu screens once again show off one of the Criterion Collection's
strongest points.
Dan
Hassler-Forest
Reviewed:
2002
Click
here for IMDB info on Man
Bites Dog.
Click here
to return to the front page.
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