Man Bites Dog

[Haifisch]

Meet Benoit Poelvoorde. He is witty, sophisticated, charismatic, and a psychopathic killer.
Man Bites Dog is one of the many films that was made in the first person
mockumentary style. However, this one was made way back in the early
'90s when the style was fresh and new.
There's a channel on Youtube called lbhorrorreview, on which this guy
has a series about the most disturbing movies ever made. In one of the
videos in that series, he talked about Man Bites Dog. Yet for some
reason, I didn't expect this movie to disturb me as much as it did. I
knew that it was a satire, and because of that key word I expected it to
be more of a comedy.
I will admit that there were some fun scenes in the movie. Benoit is one
of the most charming characters I've seen in a film like this, and I
kind of enjoyed watching as he discussed his craft as casually as you
and I might talk about the weather. He also has a few monologues in the
film about the state of the world he lives in, and it was during one of
these monologues that I thought to myself, "So that's why he's so
messed up." The film crew following him around isn't much better, of
course, and they help out in the killer's exploits several times.
As I said, the film is very disturbing. They do nothing to glamorize the
violence in this picture, and I actually felt sort of dirty for
watching some of these scenes. There was one particular scene which felt
like a straight homage to A Clockwork Orange. If you've seen both this
and ACWO, I'm sure you'll know what I'm talking about.
I like the fact that these events do play out realistically, though.
Just because the film crew is oblivious to the foul nature of their
crimes doesn't mean the world around them is the same way, and there are
consequences for their actions.
The actors all did an amazing job in the movie, too. There was never a
moment that took me out of the picture, and at no time did I feel like I
was watching a movie.
Overall, I thought that Man Bites Dog was pretty awesome. It's not one of those movies that I
had to watch again immediately after it was over, but I'll most likely
be viewing it again in the future.
9/10