Violence to Animals in Film: December 2022

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.

2046

2046. Wong Kar Wai, 2004.

😸

Edition screened: Included in Criterion Blu-ray set World of Wong Kar Wai, released 2021. Cantonese language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 128 minutes.

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

The Ash Tree (Clark)

The Ash Tree. Lawrence Gordon Clark, 1975.

😿

Edition screened: Included in BFI DVD box set Ghost Stories for Christmas, released 2013. English language. Runtime approximately 37 minutes.

Summary: Dead or distressed animals.

Details:

1) A cow lies panting in a field, seemingly close to death, 3:51-4:03.

2) A dead pheasant lies in a field, 6:06-6:09.

The Ash-Tree (Bell)

The Ash-Tree. David Bell, 1986.

😸

Edition screened: From the series Classic Ghost Stories of M.R. James and included in BFI DVD box set Ghost Stories for Christmas, released 2013. English language. Runtime approximately 15 minutes.

Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.

Couples Retreat

Couples Retreat. Peter Billingsley, 2009.

😸

Edition screened: Watched online, to the imperilment of an otherwise lovely vacation. English language. Runtime approximately 113 minutes.

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

Unspeakably juvenile and horrible. Not just couples, but everyone should retreat.

Cowards Bend the Knee

Cowards Bend the Knee. Guy Maddin, 2004.

😸

Edition screened: Zeitgeist DVD, released 2005. Scored and with English intertitles, no dialogue track. Runtime approximately 65 minutes.

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

The Diary of Mr. Poynter

The Diary of Mr. Poynter. Marilyn Fox, 1980.

😸

Edition screened: From the series Spine Chillers and included in BFI DVD box set Ghost Stories for Christmas, released 2013. English language. Runtime approximately 11 minutes.

Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.

Ghost Stories for Christmas

Ghost Stories for Christmas. Various directors, 1968-2006.

😸 . . .

Edition screened: BFI DVD box set, released 2013. English language. Runtime of feature titles approximately 830 minutes.

Summary: The 1975 version of The Ash Tree includes a few images of dead animals. The box set otherwise is free of depictions of dead or mistreated animals.

This 6-DVD set from BFI is grounded in the writings of M.R. James. It includes a standard assortment of introductions and commentaries, along with short films from several BBC series:

The entire series A Ghost Story for Christmas:

Whistle and I'll Come to You (1968, Jonathan Miller)
Whistle and I'll Come to You (2010, Andy de Emmony)
The Stalls of Barchester (1971, Lawrence Gordon Clark)
A Warning to the Curious (1972, Lawrence Gordon Clark)
Lost Hearts (1973, Lawrence Gordon Clark)
Treasure of Abbot Thomas (1974, Lawrence Gordon Clark)
The Ash Tree (1975, Lawrence Gordon Clark)
The Signalman (1976, Lawrence Gordon Clark)
Stigma (1977, Lawrence Gordon Clark)
The Ice House (1978, Derek Lister)
A View from a Hill (2005, Luke Watson)
Number 13 (2005, Pier Wilkie)

The entire series Classic Ghost Stories:

The Mezzotint (1986, David Bell)
The Ash-Tree (1986, David Bell)
Wailing Well (1986, David Bell)
Oh, Whistle and I’ll Come to You, My Lad (1986, David Bell)
The Rose Garden (1986, David Bell)

From the series Spine Chillers:

The Mezzotint (1980, Marilyn Fox)
A School Story (1980, Marilyn Fox)
The Diary of Mr. Poynter (1980, Marilyn Fox)

From the series Ghost Stories for Christmas with Christopher Lee:

The Stalls of Barchester (2000, Eleanor Yule)
A Warning to the Curious (2000, Eleanor Yule)
Number 13 (2000, Eleanor Yule)

The Ice House

The Ice House. Lawrence Gordon Clark, 1978.

😸

Edition screened: Included in BFI DVD box set Ghost Stories for Christmas, released 2013. English language. Runtime approximately 34 minutes.

Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.

Lost Hearts

Lost Hearts. Lawrence Gordon Clark, 1973.

😸

Edition screened: Included in BFI DVD box set Ghost Stories for Christmas, released 2013. English language. Runtime approximately 35 minutes.

Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.

The Mezzotint (Bell)

The Mezzotint. David Bell, 1986.

😸

Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.

The Mezzotint (Fox)

The Mezzotint. Marilyn Fox, 1980.

😸

Edition screened: From the series Spine Chillers and included in BFI DVD box set Ghost Stories for Christmas, released 2013. English language. Runtime approximately 11 minutes.

Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.

Number 13 (Wilkie)

Number 13. Pier Wilkie, 2006.

😸

Edition screened: Included in BFI DVD box set Ghost Stories for Christmas, released 2013. English language. Runtime approximately 40 minutes.

Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.

Number 13 (Yule)

Number 13. Eleanor Yule, 2000.

😸

Edition screened: From the series Ghost Stories for Christmas with Christopher Lee and included in BFI DVD box set Ghost Stories for Christmas, released 2013. English language. Runtime approximately 30 minutes.

Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.

Oh, Whistle and I’ll Come to You, My Lad (Bell)

Oh, Whistle and I’ll Come to You, My Lad. David Bell, 1986.

😸

Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.

Old

Old. M. Night Shyamalan, 2021.

😸

Edition screened: Viewed online. English language. Runtime approximately 108 minutes.

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

A mystery drama pivoting on human subjects who come to understand that they are the subjects of involuntary scientific experimentation leading to their torturous deaths. As such, it also is and must be a commentary on animal experimentation, made obvious by a post-revelation laboratory scene in which a scientist professes “But think of the lives we’ve saved.”

One-Armed Boxer

One-Armed Boxer (Du bei chuan wang). Jimmy Yu Wang, 1972.

😸

Edition screened: Arrow Blu-ray, released 2022. Mandarin language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 93 minutes.

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

The Platinum Pussycat

The Platinum Pussycat. Edward Montoro and James Somich, 1968.

😸

Edition screened: Included with The Sexploiters on Retro-Cinema “Double Feature” DVD, released 2011. English language. Runtime approximately 72 minutes.

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

A badly-made crime thriller featuring:

• one beautiful woman

• one irrelevant and awkwardly inserted sexually explicit scene that absolutely does not include the beautiful woman.

It is somewhat interesting to see areas of Cleveland not commonly used as filming locations, including a long final foot chase through The Flats.

Private Property

Private Property. Leslie Stevens, 1960.

😸

Edition screened: Cinelicious Blu-ray, released 2016. English language. Runtime approximately 80 minutes.

Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.

A Quiet Place Part II

A Quiet Place Part II. John Krasinski, 2020.

😸

Edition screened: Watched online. English language. Runtime approximately 98 minutes.

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

The Rose Garden

The Rose Garden. David Bell, 1986.

😸

Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.

A School Story

A School Story. Marilyn Fox, 1980.

😸

Edition screened: From the series Spine Chillers and included in BFI DVD box set Ghost Stories for Christmas, released 2013. English language. Runtime approximately 11 minutes.

Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.

The Sexploiters

The Sexploiters. Al Ruban, 1965.

😸

Edition screened: Included with The Platinum Pussycat on Retro-Cinema “Double Feature” DVD, released 2011. English language. Runtime approximately 62 minutes.

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