Dogs Set Out to Teach Animal Abusers a Lesson in ‘White God’

Sandra Miska

Angelenos love their dogs and their foreign films. It is lucky for us the Hungarian film the “White God,” the story of a pack of dogs who stage an uprising against their human abusers, is to be released on March 27.

The canine hero of “White God” is Hagen, a mixed-breed dog who shares a close bond with his 13-year-old guardian Lili (Zsófia Psotta).  Complications arise when they are sent by Lili’s divorced mother to live with Lili’s father, Daniel (Sándor Zsótér).  After being told he must pay a fine for keeping a “mongrel” dog, Daniel opts to abandon the pup on the side of the road, devastating his daughter.  Before they drive off, Lili promises Hagen that she will come back for him.

On the streets, Hagen makes friends with other discarded dogs.  He finds himself in real danger after being caught by a restaurant owner and forced to train as a fight dog.  The brutal training regimen awakens Hagen’s fighter instincts, and he soon finds himself the leader of a gang of mixed-breed dogs who set out to teach their human oppressors a lesson.

“Not merely a story of interspecies hierarchy, then, ‘White God’ also puts forward a simple but elegant metaphor for racial and class oppression, as the outcast (or even outcasts) masses, sidelined in favor of the elite few, band together to assert their collective strength,” says Variety.

274 dogs were used in the making of “White Dog,” a record for a feature film.  All the dogs were mixed-breeds rescued from animal shelters.  Hagen was played by twins Luke and Bodie, who were found in an RV park Arizona just as their owner was about to surrender them to a shelter.

“White God” was screened at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival and was awarded with the Prize Un Certain Regard, an award given to recognize young talent.  Not surprisingly, the film’s canine stars were honored with a well-deserved Palm Dog Award, an award that was once given to Uggie from “The Artist.”

“White God” opens in Los Angeles April 3. Hungarian with English subtitles.