'The Plague Dogs' review

Title: The Plague Dogs
Director: Martin Rosen
Starring: Christopher Benjamin, John Hurt, Patrick Stuwart
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
Studio: Nepenthe Productions
Genre(s): Drama
Rated:

(For violent images and thematic elements)

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When you think of great animation the works of Disney, Hayao Miyazaki, and the Warner Bros. cartoons usually spring to mind. Works by these companies (and director) are certainly very good works, very inspired works, and deserve to be seen by anyone and everyone. But did you know there was a man years ago who was challenging the way we view animation today? His name was Martin Rosen, a U.K. animation director whose movies can be viewed as radical and daring even today. His first animated film was “Watership Down.” Adapted from Richard Adams best-selling (and well worth reading) novel of the same name, “Watership Down” was a critical success.

It was more realistic and violent then people expected, and despite being about rabbits Rosen didn’t tone down the violence or underlying political themes for families. It was released with a (rather hard) PG-rating and became a minor success. Not a runaway blockbuster but enough to make another movie. The second time around he decided to adapt another Adams book: “The Plague Dogs.” The novel (which is another excellent read) was one of those unique books that felt impossible to film. The only format that could do the book justice without looking silly would be an animated film. No one thought that one would actually made though, especially considering the content of the book was bleak and depressing.

Rosen did manage to make it though. The story involves a couple of lab dogs who were experimented on. They manage to escape one night and - not having anywhere to go - turn into wild animals, killing farmers sheep and other animals to survive. The new life for the dogs isn’t exactly going well, but to make matters worse the scientists (known as the “White Coats” to the dogs) are determined to kill them once the media reports that they may be infected with the plague. Whether they are or aren’t is never really reveled, but I don’t think the information is really all that vital. What sticks with most people is the depressing ending which - I won’t lie - is about as sad as they come.

But I don’t think the mood should be the defining reason to see this movie. I’m more interested in the characters and the plight in front of them, which is always interesting and never boring. The first dog is Rowf (Christopher Benjamin) a Labrador-mix who has not known life outside of the lab. He knows he isn’t much of a wild animal, but he will fight to the death to insure he doesn’t go back to the lab. The second character is Snickers (John Hurt) a Jack Terrier. Unlike Rowf he was once cared for by humans, and has a cautious optimism that they will find a new “master” to take care of them.

Rounding out the main characters is a fox who may be trustworthy and who may not. These characters, their plights, and their fates are all things I cared about, and I was fully invested in the story from beginning to end. To hell that the movie is depressing as hell, no one avoids "Schindler's List" like the plague because IT's depressing (no pun intended I assure you). This is great film making that any serious movie fan should see. Sadly the movie was not treated well in America. Considering the subject matter it’s no surprise no studio wanted to pick it up back then. I’m not sure this movie would be released in America today. The film was cut by almost twenty minutes to remove some of the more graphic scenes and pacing.

Regardless of these edits the film still received a PG-13 rating and was released in only a select handful of cities. The movie has since fallen into obscurity and I am unaware that the uncut version has been released yet (can you help with this Criterion). This means that you’ll have to hunt down some import DVD’s, but it’s well worth the hunt. “The Plague Dogs” is a masterful work of art that deserves to be seen. Sadly, this film was a pretty big failure, and Rosen would make one more live action film before retreating from animation altogether. A real shame, because he was a genius who may have been daring a little too soon.

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