Yes, I know I'm behind the times in many ways on this blog and particularly with this movie but I was strictly instructed by my mother 2 months ago NOT to watch this movie until I was home for Christmas. There's a small tradition with my family in which we all get together and watch a film that none of the 6 of us have yet seen (a slightly impossible feat considering the number of movies this family watches). Most of the time this is just an empty threat and everyone in our family goes ahead and watches whatever the chosen film is in their own sweet time anyway but for some divine reason this year, Red Dog was left untouched by our wandering eyes.
Red Dog is a film I have been meaning to watch all year due to its unexpected home-grown box office success. Within 6 weeks, this little Aussie film had managed to acquire over $16m at the box office and to date, has raised $21m. To this day, there are only a select number of Australian films to have achieved such a feat including Moulin Rouge, Happy Feet, and Crocodile Dundee. But what was it about this little film and its canine star that riveted audiences across the country. Having now watched the films, these are my top 5 reasons as to how the filmmakers got it right:
1. The Outback
Crocodile Dundee. Wolf Creek. The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. Australia.
There is an undeniable link between these movies, all of whom have had considerable success around the world and in their home country, and that is their portrayal of this vast, great land. Whether its murderous psychopaths on long, barren roads, or flamboyant drag queens in Alice Springs; some would say that the most positively received Australian films are the ones that include some reference to our home country. Red Dog is no exception. In parts possibly overdoing it slightly, the film makes great use of highlighting the culture and lifestyles of the North Western communities of WA. Almost like a documentary, these places are depicted as remote, isolated areas of existence that only the brave would venture to. Like a patch of the Amazon, there is an untouchability effect to this country that all Australians understand. Red Dog respects this in both its visual and narrative depiction of the setting and I believe it is for this reason that Australia finally got off its arse and wandered to the theatre to support one of its own.
2. The Animals
Enough said. Every successful Aussie film almost always features cute, furry animals. Babe. Happy Feet. Even The Man From Snowy River. All star charismatic, courageous four-footed species that undoubtedly save the day. Red Dog's undeniably show-stealing star, Koko, embodies the right blend of animal and human qualities that pull and audience in. He's funny without trying to be; loyal without being clingy; respectful when it's right; and most importantly, not afraid to stand up for what he believes in. You're probably thinking how can one animal manage to pull this off but with the right facial expressions (yes, dogs do have them), and a few nifty camera angles, the message is pumped home. And most importantly, everyone knows that dog is man's best friend.
3. The Sob Story
Boy moves to town. Boy makes only friend in dog. Boy meets girl. Fall in love. Boy dies. Dog tries to find him. I could not believe how much that last part took up of the whole movie nor could I believe the profound effect it was having on not just me, but my family as well. For a solid 10 minutes of the entire 90 minute film, this poor mutt waits for his deceased owner to come home, then treks across the whole state to try and find him. Throw in a bit of hard-hitting storytelling from one of your miners impersonating said dog, and you've got tears galore. By weaving a series of beautifully shot vignettes of the WA landscape with a cleverly scripted voiceover, the filmmakers managed to draw tears from the eyes of my family and I that I had been deliberately trying to repress in the whole film (knowing full well that they were going to come at some point). There are many examples I can conjure of films that use The Sob Story to enhance the narrative but you've probably got a few in your head already. Needless to say, Dog+Dead Owner+ Visually Enhancing Montage=Audience hooked till the very end.
4. The International Relations
The thing that Australians hate the most I have realised is films that are "too-Australian." What I mean by that is films that look just a bit too closely at ourselves, pointing out our flaws (which we do naturally as a nation) and reminding us of how different we are from the rest of the world. We don't like that and would rather prefer to be held in the same light as any other country, particularly America (who we are still striving to become) and the UK (who we are desperately trying to separate ourselves from). Red Dog uses the mining community to promote a sense of "universality" within the film. This not only initiates an international link to the film for outside countries, but also means that Australian audiences don't feel so isolated in their thinking. What I mean by this is that if Australians feel their thoughts on a film are the same as what other countries would be, then they are ok about them. For some reason, we only feel validated within our own thoughts if the rest of the world agrees with them. That's the reason why we become so obsessed with the latest international craze rather than one of our own from Down Under. We like to think that other countries are interested in us. If not, then we are not interested in ourselves. Red Dog has used the internationally represented mining community of Dampier to better its chances of both international and Australian audiences developing a relationship with the narrative.
5. The Resemblance
Having seen many Australian films before in my lifetime and thoroughly enjoyed MOST of them (there have been some TERRIBLE creations from our crazy Ocker film nuts), the main trend I can see in Red Dog is the undeniable Aussie-ness upon the screen. I've spoken so far about what elements of this film have made it such a financially and emotionally attractive option down at Blockbuster but for all Australian films, I really do feel I can say its purely down to the fact that we have a unique style and we love to use it. Retro editing techniques, blends of mediums, a gorgeous soundtrack, coupled with even more gorgeous cast members, all combine to produce really effective, enjoyable Aussie films and Red Dog is no exception.
At the end of the day, I can talk as much as the next "professional" about Red Dog and how it became such a huge success but at the end of the day, no amount of analysing or philosophising is going to be able to assit future film producers in nailing that magic equation. We are a fickly bunch us Aussies and I think the number one think we don't like is being told what we do like. All credit goes to the producers of Red Dog for this special technique in not force-feeding us with a thousand reasons to go see this movie. Like the Yarra river, word-of-mouth slowly trickled around the country promoting this little beauty and in the end, the results spoke for themselves. Go see this film and enjoy it at whatever capacity you think you can. I for one have been converted once again to our gorgeous Aussie film land.
