KYNODONTAS (DOGTOOTH) (2009)

Summary:

Kynodontas, internationally known as Dogtooth, is a chilling and darkly comedic Greek drama that delves into the extreme lengths parents go to control their children. The film centers on a highly dysfunctional family living in an isolated, high-walled compound, where the three adult children have been systematically shielded from the outside world. Their parents have meticulously constructed an elaborate, distorted reality for them, redefining common words, inventing dangers, and dictating every aspect of their lives to ensure their perpetual "innocence" and dependence.

As the children grow, their burgeoning natural instincts and curiosity begin to clash with the fabricated reality, leading to increasingly disturbing and violent behaviors. The arrival of an outsider, a factory worker brought in to satisfy the son's sexual urges, inadvertently introduces cracks into the parents' meticulously maintained facade, prompting a slow but inevitable unraveling of their suffocating control. The film is a stark exploration of language, power dynamics, and the psychological impact of extreme isolation and manipulation.

Keywords: Kynodontas, Dogtooth, 2009, Yorgos Lanthimos, Absurdist, Drama, Psychological Thriller, Greek Cinema, Isolation, Control.

Plot:

Kynodontas opens by immediately establishing the bizarre and unsettling world inhabited by a family of five. A father, mother, and their three adult children – a son, an older daughter, and a younger daughter – live in a sprawling, high-walled compound, completely cut off from society. The children, now in their late teens and early twenties, have never left the property, nor have they ever encountered anyone outside their immediate family. Their parents have meticulously curated their entire perception of reality, indoctrinating them with a complex system of misinformation and fabricated dangers.

The film illustrates this indoctrination through various unsettling examples. Words like "sea," "airplane," and "zombie" have been assigned entirely new, arbitrary meanings. An "airplane" is a small toy that occasionally flies over their house, while a "sea" is a type of armchair. The outside world is portrayed as a place of immense danger, particularly due to "cats," which are described as ferocious, man-eating beasts that can only be killed by the children's "dogtooth" falling out. This particular myth serves as a central point of the children's conditioning, linking their physical maturity to a release from danger, yet simultaneously reinforcing their dependence on their parents' rules.

Their daily lives are structured around repetitive, often nonsensical games and exercises designed to reinforce the parents' control and prevent any independent thought. They learn to hunt "cats" (which are never seen), compete in endurance challenges, and are rewarded with stickers for good behavior. Any curiosity about the outside world is swiftly and subtly redirected or punished. The father, the primary architect of this bizarre system, works at a nearby factory, the only member of the family to regularly leave the compound. The mother, equally complicit, enforces the rules within the home, maintaining a facade of domestic tranquility while perpetuating the psychological prison.

As the son enters puberty, his sexual urges become a problem for the parents. To maintain the purity and isolation of their family unit, the father brings Christina, a security guard from his factory, into their home. Christina is tasked with satisfying the son's sexual needs, but her presence, even under strict supervision, begins to introduce unforeseen variables into the children's carefully constructed world. She is an outsider, a conduit to a reality the children have never known. Initially, Christina adheres to the parents' rules, engaging in sex with the son in a detached, clinical manner, often in the presence of the older daughter, who is instructed to observe.

However, Christina's influence slowly begins to chip away at the older daughter's rigid conditioning. During one of their encounters, Christina, out of boredom or perhaps a subtle act of rebellion, introduces the older daughter to an illicit pleasure: headbands. She gifts the older daughter a headband, an item completely forbidden by the parents, who view any external adornment as a potential gateway to the outside world. This small act of defiance sparks a nascent curiosity in the older daughter. She begins to experiment with the headbands in secret, finding a strange sense of individuality in them.

The turning point comes when Christina, during a sexual encounter with the son, inadvertently leaves behind a video cassette of the film "Rocky." The older daughter discovers the tape and, intrigued by its forbidden nature, watches it in secret. The film, depicting a world of competition, struggle, and external motivation, is utterly alien to her. She attempts to mimic the actions and sounds she sees on screen, particularly the grunts and punches, believing them to be a new form of communication or game. Her attempts to integrate these "Rocky" behaviors into their daily rituals are met with confusion and mild disapproval from her parents, who cannot comprehend the source of her new actions.

The parents' control begins to fray further. The younger daughter, perhaps the most emotionally volatile and susceptible to the bizarre conditioning, exhibits increasingly aggressive and disturbing behaviors. She becomes obsessed with the idea of her "dogtooth" falling out, believing it will allow her to finally kill the mythical cats and gain freedom. She repeatedly bangs her head against objects, hoping to dislodge a tooth. Her violence escalates, leading her to attack her older sister with a glass shard after a game, a shocking act that reveals the destructive potential of their isolated existence.

The older daughter's fascination with Christina deepens. She begins to demand sexual favors from Christina, mirroring the arrangement her brother has. Christina, increasingly uncomfortable with the family's twisted dynamics and perhaps feeling a degree of pity, eventually complies. This act further blurs the lines of their established order and introduces a new layer of forbidden knowledge and experience for the older daughter.

The tension within the family reaches a peak when the parents discover the "Rocky" tape. Enraged by this breach of their meticulously constructed reality, the father punishes Christina severely, beating her and banishing her from the compound. This violent act serves as a stark reminder of the parents' absolute authority and their willingness to use force to maintain control. However, the damage has already been done; the seeds of rebellion have been sown in the older daughter.

Fueled by her newfound understanding of an external world, however distorted, and perhaps by a desperate desire for true freedom, the older daughter takes a drastic step. Believing that her "dogtooth" must fall out for her to finally leave, she takes a hammer and chisel and brutally extracts one of her own canine teeth. The act is excruciating and visually shocking, a testament to her desperation and the extreme psychological pressure she has endured.

With her self-inflicted "dogtooth" now gone, she believes she has fulfilled the condition for escape. She waits for the family to go to sleep, then quietly climbs into the trunk of her father's car, hoping to be driven out of the compound when he leaves for work in the morning. The film ends ambiguously. The father drives to work, parks his car in the factory parking lot, and leaves. The older daughter remains trapped in the trunk, her fate uncertain. She is physically outside the compound for the first time, but still confined, still dependent on an external force for true liberation. The final shot of the car in the desolate parking lot leaves the viewer to ponder whether her escape is a true step towards freedom or merely a transfer to a different kind of confinement, highlighting the pervasive nature of the psychological cage her parents built.

Cast (Lead Roles):

• Christos Stergioglou as Father
• Michele Valley as Mother
• Aggeliki Papoulia as Older Daughter
• Mary Tsoni as Younger Daughter
• Hristos Passalis as Son
• Anna Kalaitzidou as Christina

Crew:

• Director: Yorgos Lanthimos
• Writers: Efthymis Filippou, Yorgos Lanthimos
• Producers: Athina Rachel Tsangari, Yorgos Lanthimos
• Cinematographer: Thimios Bakatakis
• Editor: Yorgos Mavropsaridis
• Composer: (No original score, uses pre-existing music)

Release Info:

• Original Release Date: May 18, 2009 (Cannes Film Festival)
• Language: Greek
• Genre: Drama, Absurdist, Black Comedy, Psychological Thriller
• Running Time: 97 minutes
• Accolades: Nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film; Winner of the Prix Un Certain Regard at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival.