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 Visitor

The Visitor (Stridulum). Giulio Paradisi, 1978.
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Edition screened: Arrow Blu-ray, released 2014. English language. Runtime approximately 108 minutes.

Summary: Display of a dead hawk.

Details: Shelley Winters briefly holds a dead hawk by one wing, 1:29:39.
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Viva

Viva. Anna Biller, 2007.
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Edition screened: Cult Epics DVD, released 2009. English language. Runtime approximately 120 minutes.

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

Viva is perhaps the most thorough and complete misunderstanding of mid-20th century style ever committed to film. Viva makes Austin Powers seem like a scholarly exposé on popular culture of the era.
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Voice Without a Shadow

Voice Without a Shadow (Kagenaki koe). Seijun Suzuki, 1958.
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Edition screened: Included on Arrow Blu-ray Nikkatsu Diamond Guys Volume 1, released 2016. Japanese language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 92 minutes.

Summary: Attempted strangling of a dog.

Details: A psychotic girl attempts, or pretends to attempt, to strangle a dog, 44:36-44:39. She is interrupted and humiliated for her actions, then vents her frustration by plucking a chicken carcass in a weirdly violent way, 44:50-45:00.


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The Voices

The Voices. Marjane Satrapi, 2014.
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Edition screened: Arrow Blu-ray, released 2015. English language. Runtime approximately 103 minutes.

Summary: A deer is killed.

Details:
1) A deer’s head goes through the windshield of a pickup at 25:18. The deer is in agony and the driver slits the deer’s throat with a knife through 25:54. Obvious special effects.
2) Television program of wild animals killing each other, 47:32-48:26.

There is no harm or threat to the dog and cat who are main characters in the film.

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The Warped World of Koreyoshi Kurahara

The Warped World of Koreyoshi Kurahara. Koreyoshi Kurahara, 1960-1967. 
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Edition screened: Criterion Eclipse Series #28 DVD set, released 2011. Japanese language with English subtitles. Collective runtime approximately 439 minutes.

This 28th volume in Criterion’s Eclipse Series includes the following films, some with violence to animals. Click individual titles for details as they are posted.

Intimidation (1960)
I Hate But Love (1962)
Black Sun (1964)
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You’re Next

You’re Next. Adam Wingard, 2013.
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Edition screened: Lionsgate Blu-ray, released 2014. English language. Runtime approximately 94 minutes.

Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.




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The Wrestler

The Wrestler. Darren Aronofsky, 2008.
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Edition screened: 20th Century Fox DVD, released 2009. English language. Runtime approximately 109 minutes.


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


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Woyzeck

Woyzeck. Werner Herzog, 1979.
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Edition screened: Included in Shout! Factory Blu-ray box set Herzog: The Collection, released 2014. German language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 80 minutes.

Summary: Cruel treatment of a cat.

Details: A cat is intentionally dropped from a particularly tall second-story window as an experiment, and clumsily caught by Klaus Kinsky, 29:00-29:30.












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The World

The World (Shijie). Jia Zhangke, 2004.
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Edition screened: Eureka! Masters of Cinema Blu-ray #12, released 2010. Mandarin language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 140. minutes.


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


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World on a Wire

World on a Wire (Welt am Draht). Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1973.
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Edition screened: Criterion Blu-ray, released 2012. German language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 212 minutes.

Summary: Shooting of a dog.

Details:
1) A German Shepherd charges, is shot, and shown dead, 3:03:07-3:03:12.
2) A man shoots repeatedly at a magpie in a house, 3:07:07-3:07:14. The bird flutters around but does not appear to be hit. The house blows up soon thereafter with the implication that the magpie still is inside.
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The World of Jacques Demy

The World of Jacques Demy (L'univers de Jacques Demy). Agnès Varda, 1995.
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Edition screened: Included in Criterion Blu-ray box set The Complete Films of Agnès Varda (disc 10) released 2020, and on the StudioCanal 50th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, released 2014. French language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 90 minutes.


Summary: A rural housewife finishes skinning a rabbit as part of food prep, 44:48-44:52.


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Workshop Exercises

Workshop Exercises (Cwiczenia warsztatowe). Marcel Lozinski, 1986.
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Edition screened: Included with Blind Chance in the Kino DVD box set The Krzysztof Kieślowski Collection, released 2005. Polish language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 12 minutes.


Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.


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The Women

The Women. George Cukor, 1939.
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Edition screened: Warner DVD, released 2005. English language. Runtime approximately 133 minutes.


Summary: No particular depictions of violence toward animals.

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Woman of Desire

Woman of Desire. Robert Gintry, 1993.
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Edition screened: TriMark DVD, released 1999. English language. Runtime approximately 94 minutes.

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

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The Woman in the Fifth

The Woman in the Fifth (La Femme du vème). Pawel Pawlikowski, 2011.
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Edition screened: Flatiron DVD, released 2012. French language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 85 minutes.

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


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The Woman in Black

The Woman in Black. James Watkins, 2012.
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Edition screened: Sony Blu-ray, released 2012. English language. Runtime approximately 95 minutes.

Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.

There are several shocking events in The Woman in Black, the most unexpected being that a small dog is taken into a dangerous haunted house and is not pointlessly killed.


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The Wizard of Oz

The Wizard of Oz. Victor Fleming, 1939.
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Edition screened: Warner 75th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray, released 2013. English language. Runtime approximately 102 minutes.


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

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Withnail and I

Withnail and I. Bruce Robinson, 1986.
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Edition screened: Arrow Blu-ray, released 2014. English language. Runtime approximately 108 minutes.

Summary: Killing of an eel for comedic effect and mild hunting violence

Details:
1) A poacher standing in a pub takes a live eel from his pants and beats it against the bar, 53:09. 
2) A dead hare at the front door of the cottage, 1:16:52-1:17:00. Not gory, but also not necessary.

This Arrow edition includes several video essays about Withnail and I by Yvonne Gordon and Adrian Sibley, along with Robinson’s How to Get Ahead in Advertising (1989).

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With Love from Truman

With Love from Truman. Daivd & Albert Maysles, 1966.
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Edition screened: Included on Criterion Blu-ray #781 In Cold Blood, released 2016. English language. Runtime approximately 29 minutes.


Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.


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With a Friend Like Harry

With a Friend Like Harry … (Harry, un ami qui vous veut du bien). Dominik Moll, 2000.
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Edition screened: Lions Gate DVD, released 2002. French language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 116 minutes.


Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.



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Winter Solstice

Winter Solstice. Hollis Frampton, 1974.
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Edition screened: Included on Criterion Blu-ray #607 A Hollis Frampton Odyssey, released 2012. Silent. Runtime approximately 5 minutes.


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


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Winter Sleep

Winter Sleep (Kis uykusu). Nuri Bilge Ceylan, 2014.
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Edition screened: New Wave Films Blu-ray, released 2015. Turkish language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 196 minutes.

Summary: Hunting and other animal abuse.

Details:
1) A horse is “broken” by stranding him in a river with ropes around a neck and forcing his movement against his will, 1:02:57-1:03:55.
2) A dead dog is seen lying on the frozen snow, 2:26:57-2:27:01.
3) A rabbit is shot off-screen at 3:05:32. We see it lying, breathing heavily with gunshot wounds 3:06:05-3:06:30. The dead rabbit is carried by its feet onto the hotel grounds 3:09:04-3:09:30.

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Wings (Wellman)

Wings. William A. Wellman, 1927.
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Edition screened: MGM Blu-ray, released 2012. English intertitles, no dialogue track. Runtime approximately 144 minutes.

Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.

Wings is an exceptionally good movie. It is well directed, decently acted by likable and attractive actors, and concludes with an exciting battle scene.

The MGM Blu-ray also includes a typical but informative 36-minute Making Of directed by Tim King, an enjoyable 13-minute documentary on antique aircraft and flying techniques called Dogfight!, also by Tim King, and a typically ho-hum look at the restoration of the film.

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Windjammer: The Voyage of the Christian Radich

Windjammer: The Voyage of the Christian Radich. Louis de Rochemont III and Bill Colleran, 1958.
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Edition screened: Flicker Alley Blu-ray, released 2012. English language. Runtime approximately 142 minutes.


Summary: No particular depictions of violence toward animals.


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Wild Strawberries

Wild Strawberries (Smultronstället). Ingmar Bergman, 1957.
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Edition screened: Criterion Blu-ray #139, included in Criterion Blu-ray set Ingmar Bergman’s Cinema, released 2018. Swedish language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 92 minutes.

Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.

 Wild Strawberries is on disc #3 of 30 in Ingmar Bergman’s Cinema (part of ‘Opening Night’), and is accompanied by a 2003 introduction by Bergman with Marie Nyreröd, Jörn Donner’s 1998 documentary Ingmar Bergman on Life and Work (90 minutes), and silent footage captured by Bergman during shooting of Wild Strawberries and narrated by curator Jon Wengström (17 minutes). 













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Wild Jumbo (Stray Cat Rock)

Wild Jumbo (Stray Cat Rock: Wild Jumbo / Nora-neko rokku: Wairudo janbo). Toshiya Fujita, 1970.
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Edition screened: Included in Arrow Blu-ray box set Stray Cat Rock, released 2015. Japanese language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 84 minutes.

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

This installment in the Stray Cat Rock series take strong cues from The Monkees, with beach buggy antics, impromptu foot races in fast motion, and similar timelocked goofiness.

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The Wild Bunch

The Wild Bunch. Sam Peckinpah, 1969.
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Edition screened: Warner Blu-ray, released 2006. English language. Runtime approximately 145 minutes.

Summary: Torture and willful indifference to animals.

Details:
1) The opening sequences include a group of children torturing scorpions in an ants’ nest. At 14:33 we return to that scene and see the children burning the entire nest of ants and scorpions.
2) At 1:27:30 is the famous scene where a bridge is blown up causing horses and riders on that bridge to plunge into the river below.
3) At 2:08:12 a small bird is shown on its back dying or in similar distress.

For some films, I suggest getting through or navigating around animal violence so that the bulk of the movie can be experienced. This slog through a particularly moronic section of the wild west is not one of those cases.


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The Wicked Lady

The Wicked Lady. Leslie Arliss, 1945.
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Edition screened: Included in Criterion Eclipse Series 36: Three Wicked Melodramas from Gainsborough Pictures 3-DVD set, released 2012. English language. Runtime approximately 104 minutes.

Summary: No particular depictions of violence toward animals.

Details: There is brief discussion of a horse being shot, but we see nothing.

















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Who Can Kill a Child

Who Can Kill a Child? (¿Quien puede matar a un nino? / Island of the Damned). Narciso Ibáñez Serrador, 1976.
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Edition screened: Eureka! DVD, released 2011. Spanish language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 106 minutes.


Summary: No particular depictions of violence toward animals.


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White Material

White Material. Claire Denis, 2009.
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Edition screened: Criterion Blu-ray #560, released 2011. French language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 105 minutes.

Summary: Scene of a bloody goat’s head.

Details: The decapitated head of a goat rolls out amid a basket of harvested coffee beans. Isabelle Huppert then is seen burying the head in dry dirt with her bare hands. This all happens 1:07:27-1:07:57.


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White Christmas

White Christmas. Michael Curtiz, 1954.
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Edition screened: Paramount DVD, released 2007. English language. Runtime approximately 120 minutes.


Summary: No particular depictions of violence toward animals.


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When a Woman Ascends the Stairs

When a Woman Ascends the Stairs (Onna ga kaidan wo agaru toki). Mikio Naruse, 1960.
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Edition screened: Criterion DVD #377, released 2007. Japanese language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 111 minutes.


Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.

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The Wages of Fear

The Wages of Fear (Le Salaire de la peur). Henri-Georges Clouzot, 1953.
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Edition screened: BFI Blu-ray, released 2017. French language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 152 minutes.

Summary: Torturing of insects and abuse of a dog.

Details:
1) The opening of the film after the title sequence is a close-up of several cockroaches tied together with string, pulling in opposing directions. A boy who has tied them together picks the strings up with a stick 2:20-2:28.
2) An ice cream vendor leaves his nice dog unattended and tied to his wagon for a moment. A fat ugly man whips a few rocks at the dog at close range. The dog yips when hit and the man comments “I hate mutts.” 3:44-3:52.

The Wages of Fear, an exceptionally fine, tense drama, is setup by these two scenes of typical animal cruelty. Many films open with a close-up of insects in conflict or in peril, most referencing Buñuel’s L’Âge d’or and intended to remind viewers of the true scale and worth of humanity in the world. In this case “the world” is an impoverished South American village filled with drunks, drifters, and desperate locals. The only thing that possibly could make life worse would be the presence of an American oil company that further tightens the noose by exploiting the desperation of the townspeople . . . [cue ugly white man who throws rocks at the ice cream dog].

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