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.

Showing posts with label Danish. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Danish. Show all posts

The Kingdom

The Kingdom (Riget). Lars von Trier, 1994.

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Edition screened: Included in Mubi The Kingdom Trilogy Blu-ray box set, released 2023. Danish language with English subtitle. Cumulative runtime of all four episodes approximately 291 minutes.


Summary: Killing of a dog and lab rats.


Details:

1) Episode 4: A dog is clubbed to death while attacking to protect his owner, 11:12-12:21.

2) Episode 4: A dead bloody lab rat is found in a hospital hallway, 57:18.

3) Episode 4: More lab rats are shot in the hallway, 57:45-57:56.


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The Kingdom II

The Kingdom II (Riget II, Episodes 5-8). Lars von Trier, 1997.

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Edition screened: Included in Mubi The Kingdom Trilogy Blu-ray box set, released 2023. Danish language with English subtitle. Cumulative runtime of all four episodes approximately 309 minutes.


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

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The Kingdom Exodus

The Kingdom Exodus (Riget Exodus, Episodes 9-13). Lars von Trier, 2022.

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Edition screened: Included in Mubi The Kingdom Trilogy Blu-ray box set, released 2023. Danish language with English subtitle. Cumulative runtime of all five episodes approximately 321 minutes.


Summary: 

Episode 10: An owl tears apart a rat’s body and eats some of it, 15:10-15:13.  

Episode 13: A very brief hallucinogenic image of a mouse with his tail caught in a trap.



Also included is a good interview with von Trier, filmed in the late 90s as he has finished up Season 2 of The Kingdom and is prepping for Dancer in the Dark. The interviewer himself is not skilled, but von Trier is at his best rhetorically. Super casual and obviously the successor to Buñuel, Bergman or both.

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The Boss of It All

The Boss of It All (Direktøren for det hele). Lars von Trier, 2006.

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Edition screened: IFC DVD, released 2007. Danish language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 96 minutes.


Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.


Supplemental material on the IFC disc is very good, including a featurette about “Automavision”, the computer-assisted filming technique von Trier created as a new creative obstruction in his process, and a mockumentary about cast members which is much better than expected.


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Pusher

Pusher. Nicolas Winding Refn, 1996.

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Edition screened: Included in Magnolia 3-DVD Pusher Trilogy set, 2006. Danish language with spotty English subtitles. Runtime approximately 110 minutes.


Summary: Scene of Zlatko Buric in his kitchen decapitating and otherwise ‘dressing’ already-dead game birds, 41:38-41:50. Often I don’t mention household meat prep of this sort, and this scene is comparatively ho-hum for a decapitation. But the nonchalant violence lets us know how this drug kingpin will handle people who cross him. Kim Bodnia, for example.


The Pusher Trilogy set also includes Refn’s Pusher II (2004) and Pusher III (2005). 


Blurry image of an illuminated backglass in a club scene around 1:01, possibly a 1964 LAI Cosmic Princess.




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Pusher II: With Blood on My Hands

Pusher II: With Blood on My Hands. Nicolas Winding Refn, 2004.

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Edition screened: Included in Magnolia 3-DVD Pusher Trilogy set, 2006. Danish language with spotty English subtitles. Runtime approximately 100 minutes.


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


The Pusher Trilogy set also includes Refn’s Pusher (1996) and Pusher III (2005). 




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Pusher III: I’m the Angel of Death

Pusher III: I'm the Angel of Death. Nicolas Winding Refn, 2005.

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Edition screened: Included in Magnolia 3-DVD Pusher Trilogy set, 2006. Danish language with spotty English subtitles. Runtime approximately 108 minutes.

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


The Pusher Trilogy set also includes Refn’s Pusher (1996) and Pusher II (2004). 




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The Idiots (von Trier)

The Idiots (Idioterne). Lars von Trier, 1998.

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Edition screened: Tartan DVD, released 2000. Danish language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 109 minutes.


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


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Applause

Applause. Martin Zandvliet, 2009.

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Edition screened: Kino Lorber DVD, released 2013. Danish language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 83 minutes.


Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.


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Valhalla Rising

Valhalla Rising. Nicolas Winding Refn, 2009.

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Edition screened: IFC Blu-ray, released 2010. Danish language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 93 minutes.


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


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Epidemic [6]

Epidemic (Epidemic [6]). Lars von Trier, 1987.
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Edition screened: Home Vision DVD, released 2004. English and Danish language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 106 minutes.

Summary: Dead rats.

Details: Seven dead rats on a tray, 20:55-21:00. Aside from the fact that the idea evens exists, there is nothing additionally gross or gratuitous about the presentation. 


A fabulous movie.


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Borgen: Seasons 1-3

Borgen: Seasons 1-3 (TV series). Various directors, 2010-2013.
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Edition screened: Arrow Blu-ray box set, released 2013. Danish language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 1740 minutes.

Summary: Only Episode 24 (Season 3, Episode 4) contains any violence to animals. The remaining 29 Episodes of this excellent series are completely free of animal violence.

Details: This episode largely is about unhealthy and inhumane conditions on pig farms, and the ways political parties react to that reality. The episode contains several scenes of pigs in cramped conditions, one dead pig, and an awful scene in which a politician demonstrates how piglets tails are cut off.
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The Carl Theodor Dreyer Collection

The Carl Theodor Dreyer Collection. Carl Theodor Dreyer, 1925-1964.

Edition screened: BFI Blu-ray box set, released 2015. Danish language with English subtitle. Runtime approximately 638 minutes.

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

This superb collection includes Torben Skjødt Jensen’s 1995 feature-length portrait of Dreyer Carl Th. Dreyer: My Métier, along with the following films by Dreyer. Click on individual titles for details as they become available.

Good Mothers (1942)
Day of Wrath (1943)
The Fight Against Cancer (1947)
The Village Church (1947)
The Storstrøm Bridge (1950)
Ordet (1955)
Gertrud (1964)

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Day of Wrath

Day of Wrath (Vredens dag). Carl Theodor Dreyer, 1943.
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Edition screened: Included in BFI The Carl Theodor Dreyer Collection Blu-ray box set, released 2015. Danish language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 97 minutes.

Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.


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Ordet

Ordet (The Word) . Carl Theodor Dreyer, 1955.
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Edition screened: Included in BFI The Carl Theodor Dreyer Collection Blu-ray box set, released 2015. Danish language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 126 minutes.

Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.

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Submarino

Submarino. Thomas Vinterberg, 2010.
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Edition screened: Entertainment One, released 2011. Danish language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 111 minutes.


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

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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.
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Medea (von Trier)

Medea. Lars von Trier, 1987.
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Edition screened: Facets DVD, released 2003. Danish language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 77 minutes..

Summary: Death of a horse

Details:
1) A horse’s rump is lightly slashed by poisoned metal, 48:56.
2) The horse dies in great distress, 52:30-52:52.


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The Element of Crime

The Element of Crime (Forbrydelsens element). Lars von Trier, 1984.
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Edition screened: Criterion DVD #80, released 2000. Danish language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 104 minutes.

Summary: Dead animals at crime scenes.

Details:
1) A dead horse is floating under water, 15:51-16:06.
2) The horse is raised from the water by a crane, 18:56-19:35.
3) A small dog is lightly kicked, 26:42.
4) A pit of dead animals, 1:08:12-1:08:31.


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The Hunt

The Hunt (Jagten). Thomas Vinterberg, 2012.
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Edition screened: Magnolia Blu-ray, released 2013. Danish language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 115 minutes.

Summary: Predictable formulaic deer and pet killing.

Details:
1) A deer is shot 21:17-21:21.
2) The family dog has been murdered and is shown dead in a trash bag, 1:22:18-1:22:23, then lying dead while being buried, 1:22:54-1:24:00.

If a visitor from another galaxy were required to summarize Western art on Earth with just one style or theme, that visitor probably would have difficulty choosing between the huge group of paintings made from the 14th through 17th centuries depicting scenes of Christianity, and the equal quantity of films in which the family pet is murdered as a threatening warning. Same obsessive people, different century. Vinterberg’s skilled judgement as a Dogme filmmaker is tarnished by this downscale Hollywood tactic.

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