Too much of everything

Instant Favorite.

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

The story-telling is good with flashbacks.The film is both funny and heartbreaking. You smile in a scene and get a soulcrushing revelation in the next.

Man Bites DogThe problem with video recording your murders in the 1990s was no online ad revenue.So it's hard to understand why the serial killer in this black comedy would do it.With a film crew in tow, charismatic sociopath Ben (Benoît Poelvoorde) goes about his day-to- day, detailing in-depth for the cameras the finer points of slaying strangers. He demonstrates his barbaric methods as well.While they are passive observers at first, the film crew soon help Ben restrain and dispose of his random victims. As such, they become collateral damage when someone target's Ben for revenge.A pioneer of the found footage sub-genre, this 1992 satire from Belgium takes the mockumentary style in a very dark direction. By blending off-kilter comedy with sadistic cruelty, this NC-17 rated cult hit is jarring in ways few horror movies are. Incidentally, taping your carnage will show jurors just how hot you use to look.Green Lightvidiotreviews.blogspot.ca

This 'film' rudely surpasses not only the point of cinema in its sheer purpose of entertainment or infotainment, but it also fails at mocking the media in its attempt to shock audiences by zooming in on rude violence on a daily basis to get viewer's attention.Labeling this film as a form of art would be similar to labeling actual violence and rape as art. Killing someone in a fashionable or seemingly emotionless manner, doesn't making killing and rape a form of art. In the same way, filming killing and rape in black and white, adding some clever sound tricks, bad lighting and philosophical lines straight from the cereal box, doesn't make these inhumanities funny.If there was a point to be made with this film, they should have made it clearly. Violence like this always demands a reason or an explanation, and what the film does without it, is exactly the opposite of what fans of this picture advocate for: it inflicts ruthless violence on people and makes them label it as fun and entertainment.As to the film effects and acting performances - many potential there. A waste of talent and a lack of intelligence. There were so many other ways and topics in which these could have rendered.

The first fifteen minutes of Rémy Belvaux's debut film, Man Bites Dog (1992), is a sort-of test for the viewer. It's not as graphic or as obscene as scenes to come, but can jar viewers, especially those who aren't forewarned. The first scene starts on a moving passenger train. A woman walks down a seemingly hall and is quickly accosted from behind by a man. The assailant pulls her into an apartment and strangles her with a wire as her feet kick helplessly. Now, compared to other contemporary movies, this seems a mild scene; I mean there isn't even a chainsaw decapitation or brains splattered on a car window. What sets Man Bites Dog apart is how the violence is presented. And what sets it apart from most violent movies is it's wildly funny.Man Bites Dog is a mockumentary about a Belgian serial killer named Benoit. Benoit's smiling face, charm, and his knowledge of the arts in all areas, makes him seem an unlikely candidate to be a cold-blooded killer. This dichotomy is where much of the movie's humor is drawn from. One scene, while the camera crew is following Benoit as he chases down an escaped victim, Benoit stops mid-pursuit to pick up a fallen pigeon feather. He notes its oily texture, which means mating season is upon us. He then regales the crew with a poem about pigeons in love. Benoit Poelvoorde's (His real and on-screen name) performance is comedic brilliance. The film was shot with a shoe-string budget in black and white. This coalesces with the premise of the mockumentary; film school students trying to make their debut documentary. In this way the film deviates from others in its genre, say a Christopher Guest movie (Although most people who appreciate the humor of his movies would probably appreciate Man Bites Dog dryer approach to comedy). Here the filmmakers are part of the story, as opposed to outside of it. In this way Man Bites Dog achieves social commentary. It's a satire with similar themes of Stone's Natural Born Killers. At first, the crew seems like objective filmmakers. Pretty soon Benoit is taking them out for dinner, and the crew is carrying victim's bodies for him. Half-way through the story Benoit is financing their film. Remy (Who is the director of Man Bites Dog and is the character who is directing the "documentary") and the crew are passive, especially juxtaposed next to the infinitely charismatic Benoit. Like Natural Born Killers this satirizes the media's role in violent culture. Of course Man Bites Dog being an independent European project, achieves this in a subtler, dry fashion. In one poignant scene the crews helps Benoit spot and capture an escaped victim, who is a child.This is where the aforementioned viewing test comes in. There are disturbing scenes that are enhanced by the film's documentary feel. A realistic scene of Benoit suffocating a child with his pillow is something not everyone can bear. There are others equally upsetting. But if you can stomach horrific scenes of violence then you are in for an engaging comedy that challenges the viewer to question the relationship between violence and those who gain from it.

A cerebral hybrid between "Monty Python", "Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer" and "American Psycho", "Man Bites Dog" is one such film that certainly lives up to its underground reputation. The film's grainy black-and-white photography sets up the overall tone as the viewer goes on a violent, blackly-humorous joyride masquerading as an actual documentary.Meet Benoit Poelvoorde, a clever, cultured, quick-witted, well-liked young man. A seemingly normal man with a fondness for mussels, running down the beach in the nude and most of all, he kills innocent people for a living. Cameraman Andre Bonzel and reporter Remy Belvaux are on hand to film the mundane activities of Ben's daily life along with his friends and family. Unfortunately, the two men begin to realize that their archetypal subject is doing more than just being Mr. Nice Guy.From losing his cherished ID bracelet to accidentally killing a birthday party goer, Ben becomes more than just your garden-variety serial killer in the movies. While viewing the film numerous times, I don't know what my natural reaction would be whether to laugh or be horrified. The final reaction would be both.Yes, the film is indeed shockingly violent, offensively funny and proud of it. But thanks to Poelvoorde's naturalistic performance, we know "Man Bites Dog" will be an out-of-this-world experience filled with manic glee and intense energy. The main saying goes: "No rules, no consequences." Which reminds me of that fine American institution for censorship? The Motion Picture Association of America better known as the MPAA."Man Bites Dog" makes sense for receiving the dreaded NC-17 rating. While the latter rating is usually reserved for sexually-themed films like SHOWGIRLS, it is finally put to proper use for a movie with such realistic depictions of violence.Forget "Blair Witch." Forget "Paranormal Activity." And forget "Quarantine." Those so-called "home video" genre movies don't hold a candle to the pure down-and-dirty celluloid that is "Man Bites Dog." The best film of 1992.Viva Cinema!