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.

Down by Law

Down by Law. Jim Jarmusch, 1986.
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Edition screened: Criterion Blu-ray #166, released 2012. English language. Runtime approximately 107 minutes.

Summary: Rabbit hunting and cooking.

Details:
1) Roberto Benigni has caught a rabbit in the woods, and holds the small dead rabbit by the ears, 1:21:24-1:21:55.
2) We see a rabbit being roasted on a spit during dialogue, 1:23:05-1:26:31.


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Detective Bureau 2-3: Go to Hell Bastards!

Detective Bureau 2-3: Go to Hell Bastards! (Kutabare akutô-domo - Tantei jimusho 23). Seijun Suzuki, 1963.
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Edition screened: Arrow Blu-ray, released 2018. Japanese language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 89 minutes.

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


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The Cloud-Capped Star

The Cloud-Capped Star (Meghe Dhaka Tara). Ritwik Ghatak, 1960.
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Edition screened: Criterion Blu-ray #993, released 2019. Bengali language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 127 minutes.

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


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The Candy Snatchers

The Candy Snatchers. Guerdon Trueblood, 1973.
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Edition screened: Vinegar Syndrome Blu-ray #302, released 2019. English language. Runtime approximately 95 minutes.


Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.

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Bloody Birthday

Bloody Birthday. Ed Hunt, 1981.
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Edition screened: Arrow Blu-ray, released 2018. English language. Runtime approximately 85 minutes.

Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.

Three children are born during an eclipse, which causes Bloody Birthday to portray these children with unexpected authenticity.
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Black Venus

Black Venus (Vénus noire). Abdellatif Kechiche, 2010.
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Edition screened: Arrow Blu-ray, released 2018. English, French, and Afrikaans languages with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 159 minutes.

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


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Avenging Angel

Avenging Angel. Robert Vincent O’Neill, 1985.
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Edition screened: Vinegar Syndrome Blu-ray #299B in The Angel Collection box set, released 2019. English language. Approximate runtime 93 minutes.


Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.

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Angel III: The Final Chapter

Angel III: The Final Chapter. Tom DeSimone, 1985.
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Edition screened: Vinegar Syndrome Blu-ray #299C in The Angel Collection box set, released 2019. English language. Approximate runtime 99 minutes.


Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.

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The Angel Collection

The Angel Collection. Robert Vincent O’Neill and Tom DeSimone, 1984-1988.
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Edition screened: Vinegar Syndrome Blu-ray set #299, released 2019. English language. Cumulative runtime of three feature films approximately 195 minutes.

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

The VS box set includes
• Angel (1984 Robert Vincent O’Neill, 93 minutes)
• Avenging Angel (1985 Robert Vincent O’Neill, 93 minutes)
• Angel III: The Final Chapter (1988 Tom DeSimone, 99 minutes)



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Angel

Angel. Robert Vincent O’Neill, 1984.
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Edition screened: Vinegar Syndrome Blu-ray #299A in The Angel Collection box set, released 2019. English language. Approximate runtime 93 minutes.

Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.


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An American Werewolf in London

An American Werewolf in London. John Landis, 1981.
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Edition screened: Arrow Blu-ray, released 2019. English language. Runtime approximately 97 minutes.

Summary: Depiction of killing a deer.

Details: In a dream sequence, David sees himself running naked in the woods. He attacks and kills a deer at 25:15 and eats a dismembered leg through 25:15.


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1984

1984. Michael Radford, 1984.
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Edition screened: Criterion Blu-ray #984, released 2019. English language. Runtime approximately 110 minutes.


Summary: No particular depictions of violence or harm to animals. Rats get significant attention, but there is no harm depicted.

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Aloys

Aloys. Tobias Nölle, 2015.
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Edition screened: Eureka! Blu-ray, released 2016. Swiss German language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 91 minutes.

Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals. 


The title character’s house cat has a prominent role, and the feline actor gives a truly first-rate performance.

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