Denis Ménochet bares his fangs in the Chien Blanc trailer
Through the eyes of Romain Gary, he recounts the political struggles of America in the 1960s.
1968. The intellectual couple formed by Romain Gary And Jean Seberg lives in the United States, in the midst of the Civil Rights movement. The writer takes in a dog, which he discovers is one of the “white dogs”, these canines trained to track down escaped slaves, and therefore, to attack any black person. Jean Seberg, Black Panther activist, wants to get rid of it, while he, Gary, wants to save it.
Freely adapted from the novel of the same name by Romain Gary, white dog makes an ideological fight of the question of animal survival, but also a questioning of Caucasian guilt in the face of the living conditions of African-Americans. As the Black Panthers take up arms, will words be powerful enough to overtake centuries of history?
After Insh’Allah And The Goddess of Fire Flies, Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette signs his third feature film. She, who cut her teeth working mainly in the documentary format, is freely inspired by a novel based on a true story to show a central social and historical reality in the construction of the United States today, but also in the construction of individual identities. A questioning that we find in a completely different context in The Goddess of Fire Fliesstory of a teenage girl in search of meaning.
To portray Romain Gary, you needed a real face, as they say. The Quebec director chose to Denis Ménochetwho returns to committed cinema after The survivorsand whose imposing build contrasts greatly with that of Kacey Rohl, aka Jean Seberg in the film. In short, an antithetical duo, a couple of contradictions, which manage to bring together small and big History.
White Dogalready released in Quebec, will be available on May 22, 2024 in French theaters.
As Bestas: beast of a film! (critical)
