A man's best friend (Bombon El Perro (DVD))

Member Name: jaggynettles

Product:	Bombon El Perro (DVD)
Date:	07/02/06 (176 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: beautifully filmed, great casting

Disadvantages: none

Bombon el Perro is an Argentinian film that was released in UK cinemas in 2005.


WHAT'S IT ABOUT?

In short, it's a film about a man and a dog.


THE PLOT

Having worked as a mechanic, in a remote part of Patagonian, for over 30 years Juan Villegas finds himself redundant and on the wrong side of 50. Resigned to living with his daughter and her lazy husband, he tries to eek out a living making knives, but he is such a bad salesman that he is forced to travel further a field in search of paying work.

After a series of false starts, a chance encounter on a roadside sets Juan on a path he never dreamt off. He tows a young lady's car 150Km back to her house and repairs it. Upon completion, she offers to pay Juan with a dog (an Argentinian Mastiff). Despite his protests, she insists the dog is of sound pedigree and will make a super companion for him. He gives in and accepts her offer.

The dog, called “Bombón LeChien”, accompanies Juan everywhere and before long is attracting a lot of attention. People stop to admire and praise him for his beauty and Juan, in turn, gets a certain amount of satisfaction from this.

Thanks to the dog, Juan gains temporary employment as a security guard and when cashing his first wage check, the bank manager (a mastiff enthusiast) introduces Juan to Walter Donado, a champion dog trainer.

Walter convinces Juan that the dog can make him very rich if he is prepared for some hard work. A long period of training ensues, not just for the dog, but for Juan too, and he suddenly finds himself thrown into the hectic world of posh dog shows and the rather delicate business of encouraging Bombón to earn money as a stud.

Will they make it, or will the cut-throat world of canine competitions see them off as quickly as they arrived? I’m not telling.


THE CHARACTERS

There are two main characters in the film - Juan and Bombón.

Bombón:

In what is a fine debut, Bombón is played by Gregorio – a cute, muscular white Mastiff. I get the impression that he isn't your average Hollywood animal performer though. He is a dog of few words, incredibly stubborn, and much prefers hanging out with his “mutley crew” than going to the pooch's parlour for his weekly cut and blow-dry. That said, Gregario plays Bombón perfectly. They’ve both had little human affection in their lifes and despite the fact I think he secretly likes Juan, Gregorio ‘s Bombón feigns aloofness with great success. But could this be his downfall?

Juan Villegas:

Juan Villegas is played by a "non-actor" of the same name who, in real life, was a car park attendant in Buena Aires for 20 years.

Juan is a wonderful character to watch on screen. His face oozes melancholy, and with a delicate smile and such sad eyes, you feel he has lost his place in the world. What comes across just from watching the way he interacts with others on screen is that Juan is a simple man so he doesn't reflect on what has happened to him - he doesn't think about anxiety, but feels it. Through Bombón, he goes from being one of life's observers to playing a lead role. The gratitude in Juan's face as an entire audience applaud him at his first dog show is delightful to watch.

There's nothing like the friendship between a man and his dog and what makes Juan and Bombón friendship all the more entertaining to watch is their reliance on small glances and gestures to communicate with each other. At times it makes for hilarious viewing.


OTHER THOUGHTS

The location of the film makes it unique. The director, Carlos Sorin, specifically chose to film in a remote part of Patagonia that's generally unknown to tourists. This place is far from "picture-postcard" country: it's cold, windy and reflects the harsh reality of everyday life away from the hustle, bustle and protection of big cities. The landscapes, wide open spaces and unending cool blue skies make for a beautiful backdrop to the story.

The method of film-making was slightly unorthodox. The entire film was shot using three cameras - a steadicam, and two handheld cameras. Each scene was taken several times simultaneously from different angles and the cameras moved with the actors, picking up on every little gesture each character makes. I felt that using this style brings film fiction a lot closer to documentary film-making and worked perfectly to tell this simple story.

Nobody in the film was a professional actor. Instead, Sorin travelled around Argentina until he found the people he thought resembled the characters he was trying to create. From a skeleton script, he sat with the "non-actors" and they wrote their lines together. This method of casting definately works for this film - there is a very "real" and endearing quality to each of the characters.


EXTRAS

- Theatrical Trailer

- Other trailers: Crash, Festival, 5X2 and Edukators

- Making of BeP:
A short documentary filmed on location, showing how the film was shot. I didn’t watch the whole thing as the sound quality was pretty bad and I felt it was on the DVD for the sake of padding out the “extras” section.

- Notes on el Perro:
The Director, Carols Sorin, Art Director and Director of Photography, Hugo Colace, talk about the themes behind the story, the cast, the location and what it's like working with a small crew in a remote part of Argentinia. This was an interesting 20 minute short but I recommend watching it after you have seen the film as you can relate to what they are talking about far better.


CONCLUSION

If Bombón el Perro had been made in the States it would have made millions at the box office and won a bevy of Oscars. Unfortunately, the way of the West is to consign subtitled films to the "Art House" corner of the video store.

This film pulls of the difficult feat of being hugely heart-warming without resorting to schmaltz or ignoring the tough realities of Patagonian life. Bombón el Perro is a wonderful story of hope out-witting despair and I highly recommend it.


PURCHASING

I rented the DVD from my local store but it's available to buy on Amazon and similar online stores from around £14.99 and in Amazon Marketplace for £5.49.


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FILM INFO

Director: Carlos Sorin
Released: Argentina, 2004
Duration: 1h 37mins
Cast: Juan Villegas, Walter Donado, Micol Estevez, Gregorio (The Dog)
Main Language: Spanish
Sub Titles: English
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© jaggynettles 2005 / kollarosie on Ciao

Summary: This film pulls of the difficult feat of being hugely heart-warming without resorting to schmaltz.