In The Mix — Video

Here’s a good movie that I will never, ever watch again. Man Bites Dog is sickening satire about a documentary camera crew accompanying a serial killer as he goes about his business murdering people. It’s one of the more brutal films since Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange, presented in a realistic documentary style with horribly sudden and stomach churning depictions of violence. The film was the winner of the 1992 Critic’s Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, and it certainly works as an indictment of news media. The DVD features an interview with the filmmakers who reveal that some of their actors didn’t know what kind of film they were participating in. The performances and concept are brilliant, but the end result is something I sometimes wish I hadn’t seen. That’s actually high praise.