Azucena

I was delighted to see that a potentially lurid film subject of molestation and abuse was handled intelligently and sensitively, and with a deft touch that kept the characters in focus. Bravo to the director...though I wish he had a few more angles in various scenes, but was working in cramped, and real, spaces. The performances of the actresses playing the step mother and the daughter were particularly good, as well as the that of the older man. Sadly, the lead male was hard to open up beyond his one or two flat dimensions. The story stayed pretty much on course, thankfully, though the pacing was a tad slow. But overall, a gem in the rough.

I happened to catch this hidden gem at the Toronto Film Festival, and was quite impressed. Azucena, or "Dog Food", is about a schoolgirl named Lily and the friendship that develops between her and a dog butcher, whose profession comes to an end when dog meat is banned in the town. Lily's home life is far from ideal: her father is an abusive boor of a man who has lost his job as a policeman, and continually takes out his frustrations on Lily and her stepmother, who is of little help to Lily in such matters.

This film could have easily become a straightforward, dull harangue about any one of many social problems (animal cruelty, child abuse, etc.), but thankfully it becomes far more than that. The real subject of the film is the cycle of cruelty it depicts; it is a study of the perpetuation of abuse and violence through a society. "Dog Food" is probably a difficult find, but it's definitely worth seeing.