Violence to Animals in Film: April 2014

Heads Up, Ears Down

This blog accurately identifies depictions of violence and cruelty toward animals in films. The purpose is to provide viewers with a reliable guide so that such depictions do not come as unwelcome surprises. Films will be accurately notated, providing a time cue for each incident along with a concise description of the scene and perhaps relevant context surrounding the incident. In order to serve as a useful reference tool, films having no depictions of violence to animals will be included, with an indication that there are no such scenes. This is confirmation that the films have been watched with the stated purpose in mind.

Note that the word depictions figures prominently in the objective. It is a travesty that discussions about cruelty in film usually are derailed by the largely unrelated assertion that no animals really were hurt (true only in some films, dependent upon many factors), and that all this concern is just over a simulation. Not the point, whether true or false. We do not smugly dismiss depictions of five-year-olds being raped because those scenes are only simulations. No, we are appalled that such images are even staged, and we are appropriately horrified that the notion now has been planted into the minds of the weak and cruel.

Depictions of violence or harm to animals are assessed in keeping with our dominant culture, with physical abuse, harmful neglect, and similar mistreatment serving as a base line. This blog does not address extended issues of animal welfare, and as such does not identify scenes of people eating meat or mules pulling plows. The goal is to itemize images that might cause a disturbance in a compassionate household.

These notes provide a heads-up but do not necessarily discourage watching a film because of depicted cruelty. Consuming a piece of art does not make you a supporter of the ideas presented. Your ethical self is created by your public rhetoric and your private actions, not by your willingness to sit through a filmed act of violence.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Fincher)

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. David Fincher, 2012.

😿😿

Edition screened: Columbia Blu-ray, released 2012. English language. Runtime approximately 158 minutes.

Summary: Display of a mutilated cat.

Details: In one of cinema’s favorite and most predictable moves, the nice house cat is found murdered and mutilated as a warning. We get several quick but graphically detailed views from 1:29:53 through 1:30:16.

This moment of animal-hating porn violence is extremely offensive, aesthetically trite, and does not reflect will on a talented director.

Gia

Gia. Michael Christopher, 1998.

😸

Edition screened: HBO DVD, released 2004. English language. Runtime approximately 125 minutes.

Summary: No particular depictions of violence toward animals.

Genealogies of a Crime

Genealogies of a Crime (Généalogies d'un crime). Raúl Ruiz, 1997.

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Edition screened: Strand DVD, released 2005. French language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 109 minutes.

Summary: Dialogue about cat killing, but no visual depictions of violence toward animals.

Gate of Hell

Gate of Hell (Jigokumon). Teinosuke Kinugasa, 1953.

😿😿

Edition screened: Criterion Blu-ray #653, released 2013. Japanese language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 90 minutes.

Summary: Abuse of a dog.

Details: While waiting impatiently outside a house, Moritoh quickly kicks a small dog at 54:21 causing him to yelp.

Gaslight

Gaslight. George Cukor, 1944.

😸

Edition screened: Warner DVD, released 2004. English language. Runtime approximately 113 minutes.

Summary: No depictions of violence toward animals.

The Warner DVD also includes Thorold Dickinson’s 1940 British version of the popular stageplay.

The Garden of the Finzi-Continis

The Garden of the Finzi-Continis (Il giardino dei Finzi Contini). Vittorio De Sica, 1970.

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Edition screened: Columbia Tristar DVD, released 2001. Italian language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 94 minutes.

Summary: No particular depictions of violence toward animals.

Funeral Parade of Roses

Funeral Parade of Roses (Bara no soretsu). Toshio Matsumoto, 1969.

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Edition screened: Cineliciouspics Blu-ray, released 2017. Japanese language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 105 minutes.

Summary: No particular depictions of violence or harm to animals.

The Cineliciouspics 2-BD set also includes eight short films by Matsumoto, ranging from avant-garde documentaries to excellent visual collages, most in step with more widely known filmmakers such as Jeff Keen, Kenneth Anger, and Hollis Frampton:

The Weavers of Nishijin (1961)

The Song of Stone (1963)

Ecstasis (1969)

Metastasis (1971)

Expansion (1972)

Mona Lisa (1973)

Everything Visible Is Empty (1975)

Ātman (1975)

Frontrunners

Frontrunners. Caroline Suh, 2008.

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Edition screened: Oscilloscope DVD #5, released 2008. English language. Runtime approximately 82 minutes.

Summary: No particular depictions of violence toward animals.

Realistically, this film only could have gone one of two ways, the other being a conceptual tour de force that transformed a significantly banal subject into a grand statement.

@ BL

Friends with Money

Friends with Money. Nicole Holofcener, 2006.

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Edition screened: Sony DVD, released 2006. English language. Runtime approximately 88 minutes.

Summary: No particular depictions of violence toward animals.

Frankenstein Unbound

Frankenstein Unbound. Roger Corman, 1990.

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Edition screened: 20th Century Fox DVD, released 2006. English language. Runtime approximately 85 minutes.

Summary: Depiction of freshly killed sheep

Details: John Hurt follows a trail of blood in the forest, and at 11:42 discovers three sheep that have been attacked and partially dismembered, but still breathing slightly. Over at 11:52, and easily skipped.

The Fountain

The Fountain. Darren Aronofsky, 2006.

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Edition screened: Warner DVD, released 2007. English language. Runtime approximately 96 minutes.

Summary: No particular depictions of violence toward animals.

For All Mankind

For All Mankind. Al Reinert, 1989.

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Edition screened: Criterion Blu-ray #54, released 2009. English language. Runtime approximately 84 minutes.

Summary: No particular depictions of violence toward animals.

The Flock

The Flock. Lau Wai-keung (Andrew Lau), 2006.

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Edition screened: Weinstein Company DVD, released 2008. English language. Runtime approximately 96 minutes.

Summary: No particular depictions of violence toward animals.

The credits mention use of “prosthetic animals”. The only animal I noticed in the film is a distant shot of a Ranchero driven away with a dog standing in the bed. Kudos to the production team if a fake dog was used rather than putting a real animal in that dangerous situation.

Life Is Sweet

Life Is Sweet. Mike Leigh, 1990.

😿

Edition screened: Criterion Blu-ray #659, released 2013. English language. Runtime approximately 104 minutes.

Summary: Mounted head of a domestic cat.

Details: A taxidermy specimen of a domestic cat’s head is the subject of comedic action 29:20-30:00. The object stays in the scene, although not the focus, for an additional minute until 31:00. The effect is pedestrianly juvenile and generally appropriate to the film.

The Criterion Blu-ray also contains Leigh’s 1975 Five-Minute Films.

Five-Minute Films

Five-Minute Films. Mike Leigh, 1975.

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Edition screened: Included on Criterion Blu-ray #659, Life Is Sweet, released 2013. English language. Collective runtime approximately 28 minutes.

Summary: No particular depictions of violence toward animals.

Leigh’s five Five-Minute Films were made for a BBC project by the same name that never reached broadcast, including:

Probation

The Birth of the Goalie of the 2001 F.A. Cup Final

Old Chums

A Light Snack

Afternoon

The Perfect Human

The Perfect Human (Det perfekte menneske). Jørgen Leth, 1967.

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Edition screened: Included on Koch Lorber DVD The Five Obstructions, released 2003. Danish language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 13 minutes.

Summary: No particular depictions of violence toward animals.

This smart little film is the point of departure for The Five Obstructions (2003).

The Five Obstructions

The Five Obstructions (De fem benspænd). Jørgen Leth and Lars von Trier, 2003.

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Edition screened: Koch Lorber DVD, released 2004. Danish language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 87 minutes.

Summary: No particular depictions of violence toward animals.

The Koch Lorber disc also includes Leth's delightful The Perfect Human, which The Five Obstructions deconstructs.

The Fifth Element

The Fifth Element. Luc Besson, 1997.

😸

Edition screened: Included in Sony Luc Besson Collection 6-DVD set, released 2001. English language. Runtime approximately 85 minutes.

Summary: No particular depictions of violence toward animals.

A Married Woman: Fragments of a Film Shot in 1964 in Black and White

A Married Woman: Fragments of a Film Shot in 1964 in Black and White (Une femme mariée: Fragments d'un film tourné en 1964 en noir et blanc). Jean-Luc Godard, 1964.

😸

Edition screened: Eureka! Masters of Cinema Blu-ray #4, released 2010. French language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 95 minutes.

Summary: No depictions of violence toward animals.

Femme Fatale

Femme Fatale. Brian De Palma, 2002.

😸

Edition screened: Warner DVD, released 2004. English language. Runtime approximately 114 minutes.

Summary: No particular depictions of violence toward animals.

1999 Stern Striker Extreme pinball machine.

Feeling Minnesota

Feeling Minnesota. Steven Baigelman, 1996.
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Edition screened: New Line DVD, released 1999. English language. Runtime approximately 99 minutes.

Summary: No particular depictions of violence toward animals.

Row of pinball machines in a game room.

Faust (Svankmajer)

Faust. Jan Svankmajer, 1994.

😸

Edition screened: Kino DVD, released 2003. Czech language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 97 minutes.

Summary: No particular depictions of violence toward animals.

Fat Girl

Fat Girl (À ma soeur!). Catherine Breillat, 2001.

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Edition screened: Criterion Blu-ray #259, released 2011. French language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 97 minutes.

Summary: No particular depictions of violence toward animals.

Fargo

Fargo. Joel Coen, 1996.

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Edition screened: MGM Blu-ray, released 2010. English language. Runtime approximately 98 minutes.

Summary: No animals or references to animals in the film.

1988 Data East Time Machine in the bar, early in the film.

The Lighthouse

The Lighthouse (Mayak). Maria Saakyan, 2006.

😸

Edition screened: Second Run DVD #056, released 2011. Russian language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 75 minutes.

Summary: No particular depictions of violence toward animals.

The Second Run edition also includes Saakyan's 2004 Farewell.

Farewell

Farewell (Proshchanie). Maria Saakyan, 2004.

😿

Edition screened: Included on Second Run DVD #056 The Lighthouse, 2011. Russian language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 27 minutes.

Summary: Display of a butchered carcass.

Details: The bodies of a dead man and an animal are hauled away together on a dolly, 20:16-20:40.

@ BL

Fantômas

Fantômas. Louis Feuillade, 1913-1914.

😿😿

Edition screened: Kino 3-DVD set Fantômas: The Complete Saga, released 2010. French intertitles with English subtitles, no dialogue tracks. Collective runtime approximately 378 minutes.

Summary: Cruel killing of a large snake.

Details: I no longer have this series to rescreen. I recall a scene from the second of the five episodes (Juve vs. Fantômas) in which a very large snake, probably a constrictor, is deployed in Juve’s bedchamber in a murder attempt. The snake’s head is brutally hacked off. It’s an inefficient and very real killing, alarmingly cruel and shown rather explicitly.

Fanny and Alexander: Theatrical Version

Fanny and Alexander: Theatrical version (Fanny och Alexander). Ingmar Bergman, 1982.

😸

Edition screened: Included as #263 in Criterion 3-Blu-ray set #261 Fanny and Alexander; also included in Criterion Blu-ray set Ingmar Bergman’s Cinema, released 2018. Swedish language with English subtitles. Approximately 188 minutes.

Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.

The ‘Theatrical version’ (the shorter version) of Fanny and Alexander is on disc #28 of 30 in Ingmar Bergman’s Cinema (part of ‘Closing Night’). The disc also includes a trailer and a 2004 audio commentary by Peter Cowie.

Family Portraits: A Trilogy of America

Family Portraits: A Trilogy of America. Douglas Buck, 2003.

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Edition screened: Homevision DVD, released 2006. English language. Runtime approximately 103 minutes.

Summary: No particular depictions of violence toward animals.

Family Moments is an album of three separate narratives of suburban tragedy and horror: Cutting Moments, Home, and Prologue.

Treasures IV: American Avant-Garde Film, 1947-1986

Treasures IV: American Avant-Garde Film, 1947-1986. Various directors, 1947-1986.

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Edition screened: Image 2-DVD, released 2008. Cumulative runtime approximately 312 minutes.

Summary: Films in this set do not depict violence or harm to animals.

This 4th installment from the Treasures From American Film Archives series includes:

7362. Pat O'Neill, 1967, 10 min. No dialogue track, scored.

Aleph. Wallace Berman, 1956-66(?), 8 min. No dialogue track, scored by John Zorn.

Bad Burns. Paul Sharits, 1982, 6 min. No dialogue track.

Bridges-Go-Round. Shirley Clarke, 1958, 4 min. No dialogue track, individual scores by Louis and Bebe Barron, and Teo Macero.

By Night with Torch and Spear. Joseph Cornell, 1940s?, 8 min. No dialogue track, scored by John Zorn.

Chumlum. Ron Rice, 1964, 23 min. No dialogue track, scored by Angus Maclise and Tony Conrad.

The End. Christopher Maclaine, 1953, 34 min. English language.

Eyewash. Robert Breer, 1959, 3 min. English language.

Fake Fruit Factory. Chick Strand, 1986, 22 min. Spanish language.

Film No. 3: Interwoven. Harry Smith, 1947–49, 3 min. No dialogue track, individual scores by Dizzy Gillespie and John Zorn.

Fog Line. Larry Gottheim, 1970, 11 min. No dialogue track.

Go! Go! Go! Marie Menken, 1962–64, 11 min. No dialogue track.

Hamfat Asar. Lawrence Jordan, 1965, 13 min. No dialogue track.

Here I Am. Bruce Baillie, 1962, 10 min. English language.

I, An Actress. George Kuchar, 1977, 9 min. English language.

Little Stabs at Happiness. Ken Jacobs, 1959–63, 15 min. English language.

Mario Banana (No. 1). Andy Warhol, 1964, 4 min. No dialogue track.

Necrology. Standish Lawder, 1969–70, 11 min. Scored.

New Improved Institutional Quality: In the Environment of Liquids and Nasals a Parasitic Vowel Sometimes Develops. Owen Land, 1976, 10 min. English language.

(nostalgia) Hollis Frampton, 1971, 36 min. English language.

Note to Patti. Saul Levine, 1969, 7 min. No dialogue track.

Notes on the Circus. Jonas Mekas, 1966, 12 min. No dialogue track, score by Jim Kweskin & the Jug Band.

Odds & Ends. Jane Conger Belson Shimane, 1959, 4 min. English language.

The Off-Handed Jape... & How to Pull It Off. Robert Nelson and William T. Wiley, 1967, 8 min. English language.

Peyote Queen. Storm De Hirsch, 1965, 9 min. No dialogue track, scored.

The Riddle of Lumen. Stan Brakhage, 1972, 13 min. No dialogue track.

@ BL

Zorgon: The H-Bomb Beast from Hell

Zorgon: The H-Bomb Beast from Hell. Kevin Fernan, 1972.

😸

Edition screened: Included on Criterion DVD #338 Equinox, released 2006. English intertitles, no dialogue track. Runtime approximately 9 minutes.

Summary: No depictions of violence toward animals.

An intentionally silly little film featuring members of the Equinox crew.

The Magic Treasure

The Magic Treasure. David Allen, 1970-1980.

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Edition screened: Included on Criterion DVD #338 Equinox, released 2006. English language. Runtime approximately 19 minutes.

Summary: No violence of any sort.

A beautifully executed stop-action telling of The Selfish Giant, created by Equinox effects animator David Allen.

@ BL

The Equinox … A Journey into the Supernatural

The Equinox … A Journey into the Supernatural. Dennis Muren, 1967.

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Edition screened: Included on Criterion DVD #338 Equinox, released 2006. English language. Runtime approximately 71 minutes.

Summary: No particular depictions of violence toward animals.

This first version of the better known Equinox redux (1970) has a somewhat different story and runs 11 minutes shorter. There is less expository material and the direct influences upon Raimi’s Evil Dead (1981) are more prevalent.

The Exorcism of Emily Rose

The Exorcism of Emily Rose. Scott Derrickson, 2005.

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Edition screened: Sony ‘Unrated Version’ DVD, released 2005. English language. Runtime approximately 120 minutes.

Summary: No particular depictions of violence or harm to animals.

@ BL

Excalibur

Excalibur. John Boorman, 1981.

😿

Edition screened: Warner DVD, released 1999. English language. Runtime approximately 140 minutes.

Summary: Hunting violence, use of animals’ bodies.

Details:

1) At 1:04:20 Perceval jumps on a rabbit to kill it. Immediately afterward we see the skinned and headless rabbit on a spit over a fire.

2) Merlin enters Morgana’s chamber at 1:26:25, where there are various small animals suspended by ropes, arranged sort of like a spice rack. The animals do not look particularly realistic.

3) Equine battle sequences include mild stunts with horses, but no simulations of horse injuries or deaths.

Really, not much animal violence for a long, aggressive, and visually outrageous film.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Michel Gondry, 2004.
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Edition screened: Universal/Focus DVD, released 2004. English language. Runtime approximately 108 minutes.

Summary: No particular depictions of violence toward animals.

From the East

From the East (D’est). Chantal Akerman, 1993.

😸

Edition screened: Icarus DVD, released 2009. French language. Runtime approximately 110 minutes.

Summary: No particular depictions of violence toward animals.

Escape from the 'Liberty' Cinema

Escape from the 'Liberty' Cinema (Ucieczka z kina 'Wolnosc'). Wojciech Marczewski, 1990.
😸

Edition screened: Second Run DVD #078, released 2013. Polish language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 88 minutes.

Summary: No particular depictions of violence toward animals.

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