Violence to Animals in Film: November 2016

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.

Ugetsu monogatari

Ugetsu monogatari. Kenji Mizoguchi, 1953.

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Edition screened: Eureka! Masters of Cinema Blu-ray #36 in box set Late Mizoguchi: Eight Films 1951-1956, released 2013. Japanese language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 97 minutes.

Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.

Umberto D.

Umberto D. Vittorio De Sica, 1952.

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Edition screened: Criterion Blu-ray #201, released 2012. Italian language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 88 minutes.

Summary: Rough handling of dogs

Details: A scene at the city pound, 53:00-56:00, shows dogs being handled roughly but no harm is depicted. The scene also includes a crate of dogs being pushed into the gassing chamber.

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (Les parapluies de Cherbourg). Jacques Demy, 1964.

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Edition screened: StudioCanal 50th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray, released 2014. French language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 93 minutes.

Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.

The Studiocanal Blu-ray includes many interviews and special features, including Agnès Varda’s feature length documentary The World of Jacques Demy (1964).

Una sull’altra

Una sull’altra (Perversion Story/One on Top of the Other). Lucio Fulci, 1969.

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Edition screened: Severin DVD, released 2007. Original English language. Runtime approximately 97 minutes.

Summary: No particular depictions of violence toward animals.

This Severin DVD does a good job of reconciling the various releases and edits of Una sull’altra, … made by an Italian director in San Francisco with actors speaking English for the most part despite some title cards and logos in French and German. This cut seems to be the French export version of the film with original English dialogue, and including some additional erotic footage not included in the 8-minutes-longer English export version. Una sull’altra is a stylish and surprisingly interesting thriller by one of the great giallo directors before he plunged into the visual gore that became definitive of the genre.

Uncle (Jireš)

Uncle (Strejda). Jaromil Jireš, 1959.

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Edition screened: Included on Criterion Blu-ray Valerie and Her Week of Wonders #761, released 2015. Czech language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 6 minutes.

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

Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives

Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (Loong Boonmee raleuk chat). Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 2010.

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Edition screened: Strand Blu-Ray, released 2011. Thai language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 113 minutes.

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

The Strand Blu-ray also includes Weerasethakul’s short film A Letter to Uncle Boonmee (2009).

Under the Skin

Under the Skin. Jonathan Glazer, 2014.

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Edition screened: Lionsgate Blu-ray, released 2014. English language. Runtime approximately 108 minutes.

Summary: Implied accidental drowning of a dog.

We see a family with a dog at the beach. We later see the dog struggling against the tide, and the woman swimming out to rescue him. Both the woman and the dog are gone.

Similar to the conclusion of Kieślowski’s Red, the dog is one victim in a larger tragedy. The canine actor portrays no bodily harm, but if the question is reduced to “Does the plot involve the dog’s death?”, the answer is Yes, and through negligence.

Unearthly Stranger

Unearthly Stranger. John Krish, 1964.

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Edition screened: Network Blu-rat, released 2014. English language. Runtime approximately 80 minutes.

Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.

The Unfaithful Wife

The Unfaithful Wife (La Femme infidèle). Claude Chabrol, 1969.

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Edition screened: Pathfinder DVD, released 2003. French language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 94 minutes.

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

The Uninvited

The Uninvited. Lewis Allen, 1944.

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Edition screened: Criterion Blu-ray #677, released 2013. English language. Runtime approximately 99 minutes.

Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.

Bonus Points … A special point is made to show that the dog and cat introduced at the beginning of the film are happy and safe at the end.

Unknown (Collet-Serra)

Unknown. Jaume Collet-Serra, 2011.

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Edition screened: Warner Blu-ray, released 2011. English language. Runtime approximately 183 minutes.

Summary: No particular depictions of violence toward animals.

The Unprecedented Defence of the Fortress Deutschkreuz

The Unprecedented Defence of the Fortress Deutschkreuz (Die beispiellose Verteidigung der Festung Deutschkreuz). Werner Herzog, 1967.

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Edition screened: Included in BFI The Werner Herzog Collection Blu-ray box set, released 2014. German language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 16 minutes.

Summary: Animals in distress and murdered.

Details:

1) A young nestling lies on its back on the ground in distress, seemingly dying, 0:42-0:50.

2) A mouse is moronically pursued and pointlessly killed, 8:10-8:40. We do not see the actual killing but see the dead mouse immediately afterwards.

The Untouchables

The Untouchables. Brian De Palma, 1987.

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Edition screened: Paramount special collector’s Edition DVD, released 2004. English language. Runtime approximately 119 minutes.

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

Unveiled

Unveiled. Humphry Knipe (as Victor Nye), 1986.

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Edition screened: Vinegar Syndrome DVD #115, released 2016. English language. Runtime approximately 75 minutes.

Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals. 2/5❤

Not one of their best.

Utopia: Seasons 1 & 2

Utopia: Seasons 1 & 2. Various directors, 2013-2014.

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Edition screened: Channel 4 DVD set, released 2014. English language. Runtime approximately 619 minutes.

Summary: Evidence of domestic rabbits brutally murdered.

This exceptionally violent program is free of animal cruelty except for two rabbit murder scenes in the first episode of Season 2:

1) Carvel places a pet rabbit in front of baby Arby and kills it with a butcher’s knife, 15:56-16:12. The killing takes place below screen but we hear the rabbit screaming.

2) Later in the episode, a second pet rabbit has been brought into the house. Arby’s mother steps on a small piece of meat at 21:50, then follows a trail of fur and blood to find baby Arby with the dead rabbit, through 22:08.

Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Vicky Cristina Barcelona. Woody Allen, 2008.

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

Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.

Videodrome

Videodrome. David Cronenberg, 1982.

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Edition screened: Criterion DVD #248, released 2004. English language. Runtime approximately 89 minutes.

Summary: No particular depictions of violence toward animals.

The Criterion release includes full-length versions of various video clips that were made by Cronenberg for inclusion in Videodrome, including Samurai Dreams and a few other titles. All of these are free of animal abuse, as is the unrelated short film Camera (2000, from the Short6 collection), also included in the 2-disc package.

Vincere

Vincere. Marco Bellocchio, 2009.

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Edition screened: IFC DVD, released 2010. Italian language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 128 minutes.

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

Violent Saturday

Violent Saturday. Richard Fleischer, 1955.

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Edition screened: Eureka! Blu-ray, released 2013. English language. Runtime approximately 90 minutes.

Summary: Careless disregard for animals’ lives.

Details: The bank robbers drive their car directly into a group of Guinea hens. One hen appears to have been hit, but walks off.

Violent Saturday is an exciting and surprisingly good heist film, marred only slightly by this one scene of careless indifference, foreshadowing the way humans will be treated by the same bank robbers in the following scenes.

The Eureka! BD also includes two short video exposés, Richard Fleischer, Storyteller: William Friedkin on Violent Saturday (2013 Robert Fischer), and Mélodrame Policier with Nicolas Saada (2013 Nicolas Ripoche), both animal violence-free.

The Virgin Suicides

The Virgin Suicides. Sofia Coppola, 1999.

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Edition screened: Criterion Blu-ray, released 2018. English language. Runtime approximately 97 minutes.

Summary: No particular depictions of violence toward animals.

The Criterion BD also includes Coppola’s short film Lick the Star (1998).

Viridiana

Viridiana. Luis Buñuel, 1961.

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Edition screened: Criterion DVD #332, released 2006. Spanish language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 91 minutes.

Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.

Bonus points! … While discussing family secrets at 14:00, Fernando Rey rescues a bee from drowning in a water barrel.

This masterpiece of surrealist cinema from Buñuel’s Mexican period is enjoyable, scandalous, and easy to watch.

A Visitor from the Living

A Visitor from the Living (Un vivant qui passe). Claude Lanzmann, 1987.

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Edition screened: Eureka! Masters of Cinema Blu-ray #101, included in the box set Shoah and 4 Films After Shoah, released 2015. French with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 65 minutes.

Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.

An extended interview with a former Red Cross official who was fooled into providing a positive report on the Nazi ghetto/death camp, Theresienstadt.

The Wizard of Gore (Lewis)

The Wizard of Gore. Herschell Gordon Lewis, 1970.

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Edition screened: Blu-ray disc included in Arrow box set The Herschell Gordon Lewis Feast, released 2016. English language. Runtime approximately 94 minutes.

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

The Arrow Blu-ray also includes Lewis’s How to Make a Doll (1968).

Venus in Fur

Venus in Fur (La Vénus à la fourrure). Roman Polanski, 2013.

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Edition screened: Artificial Eye Blu-ray, released 2014. French language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 96 minutes.

Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.

Superb.

Vengeance Is Mine

Vengeance Is Mine (Fukushû suruwa wareniari). Shôhei Imamura, 1979.

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Edition screened: Criterion Blu-ray #384, released 2014. Japanese language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 140 minutes.

Summary: Narration of torturing and killing a dog.

Details:

1) A cruel killing is described at 50:10, followed by a reenactment through 50:40. All the described violence is hidden behind bushes, although the sound track includes a dog screaming.

2) A dead eel is caught on a piling, 1:49:47-1:49:52.

Vanya on 42nd Street

Vanya on 42nd Street. Louis Malle, 1994.

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Edition screened: Criterion Blu-ray #599, released 2012. English language. Runtime approximately 120 minutes.

Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.

A wonderful presentation of Chekov’s Uncle Vanya, ingeniously interpreted by stage director Andre Gregory and filmed by Malle.

The Vanishing (Sluizer)

The Vanishing (Spoorloos). George Sluizer, 1988.

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Edition screened: Criterion Blu-ray #133, released 2014. Dutch language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 106 minutes.

Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.

Vanilla Sky

Vanilla Sky. Cameron Crowe, 2001.

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Edition screened: Paramount DVD, released 2002. English language. Runtime approximately 136 minutes.

Summary: No particular depictions of violence toward animals.

Van Gogh (Pialat)

Van Gogh. Maurice Pialat, 1991.

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Edition screened: Eureka! Masters of Cinema Blu-ray #67, released 2013. French language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 159 minutes.

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

Vampyr (Dreyer)

Vampyr (Vampyr – Der Traum des Allan Grey/Vampire: The Dream of Allan Grey). Carl Theodor Dreyer, 1932.

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Edition screened: Criterion DVD #437, released 2008. German language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 72 minutes.

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

I Vampiri (Freda)

I Vampiri (Lust of the Vampire). Riccardo Freda, 1956.

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Edition screened: Included on Arrow Blu-ray Black Sunday, released 2013. Italian language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 81 minutes.

Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.

Vampyres (Larraz)

Vampyres. José Ramón Larraz, 1974.

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Edition screened: Blue Underground Blu-ray, released 2010. English language. Runtime approximately 92 minutes.

Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.

The Valley of the Bees

The Valley of the Bees (Údolí vcel). František Vláčil, 1967.

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Edition screened: Second Run DVD #040, released 2010. Czech language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 97 minutes.

Summary: Abuse of bats; hunting violence.

Details:

1) A beehive opening in a hollowed tree is decoratively carved and surmounted by a crucified bat, 3:05-3:09.

2) An open basket containing young bats is tossed to the ground, 5:07-5:11, and the bats are stepped on and killed 5:22-5:25. We do not see the lower half of the man doing the killing, just his intentions.

3) A training exercise for hunting/attack dogs begins with a small deer suspended in a harness, 1:08:25. The deer is turned loose, pursued, attacked, and killed through 1:09:42. The deer’s throat is slit, with a closeup of the blood draining, 1:10:48-1:11:14.

A good and artistic film despite the unfortunate animal violence.

Valerie and Her Week of Wonders

Valerie and Her Week of Wonders (Valerie a týden divu). Jaromil Jireš, 1970.

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Edition screened: Criterion Blu-ray #761, released 2015. Czech language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 76 minutes.

Summary: Several animal deaths.

Details:

1) A 2-second typical depiction of a pig’s body impaled and roasting over a fire begins at 22:44.

2) A town’s central courtyard contains scattered dead chickens, the result of bird flu, beginning at 35:04 and lasting about 4 seconds.

3) At 47:20 we get the indication that a chicken’s neck is being bitten into vampirically, but we don’t see the action.

4) Beginning at 1:04:06 is a 4-second sequence in which a weasel attacks a chicken, then a man shoots the weasel.

The Criterion Blu-ray also contains three early short films by Jireš, all free of violence to animals:

Uncle (1959)

Footprints (1960)

The Hall of Lost Footsteps (1960)

Vagabond

Vagabond (Sans toit ni loi). Agnès Varda, 1985.

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Edition screened: Included in Criterion Blu-ray box set The Complete Films of Agnès Varda (disc 8) released 2020, and also as DVD # #74 in Criterion box set #418 4 by Agnès Varda, released 2008. French language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 105 minutes.

Summary: Goat butchering.

Details: Brief view of a man skinning a small goat carcass, 39:58-40:03.

The 2008 Criterion DVD and the Blu-ray in the box set both include several short films by Varda concerning the filming of Vagabond:

• Vagabond: Remembrances (2003, Varda) 0:41

• Music and Dolly Shots (2003, Varda) 0:12

• The Story of an Old Lady (1985, Varda) 0:04

• Plotting in ‘Vagabond’ David Bordwell examines the way Vagabond utilizes three different narrative strategies. 0:15

Indistinct pinball in the back of the bus/train station at 1:27:45, revealed at 1:34 to be a 1982 Gottlieb Caveman.

Vacancy

Vacancy. Nimrod Antal, 2007.

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Edition screened: Sony DVD, released 2007. English language. Runtime approximately 85 minutes.

Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals. A scene early in the film (3:27-3:34) shows a raccoon in danger of being run over by a car. The raccoon runs away unharmed.