"Colloque de chiens" or "Dog Symposium" or "Dog's Dialogue" is a French 22-minute film from 1977, so next year it will have its 40th anniversary. The writer and director here is Raoul Ruiz, who is 5 years after his death still a somewhat famous filmmaker, at least in France. This work here is the one that won him his only César Award. Like I wrote in the title, most of this movie is photos that follow one after the other while a narrator tells us the story that goes with theme. There are also some parts with "real" live action though. Unfortunately, I cannot say I enjoyed this film a whole lot. The technique used here is not one I like and I guess there is a reason it is not used today anymore. I would even say that it also made me less interested in the story, which was mediocre at best too. I did not care for any of the characters. I wonder how this would have turned out as a "real" film with the actors talking and having conversations with each other. Maybe Ruiz should have made this one for purposes of comparison. Finally, the dog barking parts that are pretty important here, thus the reference in the title, also did not work too well with the story I must say. All in all, this is a forgettable film that does not make me curious about Ruiz' other works. Thumbs down.
Review of Dog's Dialogue
