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 House That Jack Built

The House That Jack Built. Lars von Trier, 2018

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Edition screened: Scream Factory Blu-ray, released 2020. English language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 153 minutes.


Summary: Depicted torturing of a duckling and brief displays of dead animals.


Details:

1) Young Jack scoops a duckling from the water and cuts off one of its legs with shears (45:25-45:35). We then see the duckling struggling somewhat in the water.


2) Panning shot of dead and slightly bloody chickens, the result of a predator in the hen house (50:57-51:02).


3) Narration about traditional techniques, strategies, and weapons used in hunting, intercut with vintage footage including:

• A man shooting an elk (58:53-58:59)

• Same man shooting a rhinoceros (59:24-59:28)

• Historical images of “trophy parades” in which large quantities of dead animals are victoriously brought back, followed by the ensuing “hunting trophy” in which the animals are arranged for display and photography (1:00:47-1:00:58)

• Quick historical image of a wild boar being shot (1:02:10).


These four 1930’s-looking clips are not particularly gruesome, and the explanation of hunting trophies sets the stage for . . . 


4) Aerial view of Jack’s hunting trophy that includes a long line of dead crows (1:10:54-1:11:28).


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