On the edge of the vast Gobi Desert in northwestern China, renegade Lang – once a stuntman, motorcyclist, and guitarist – returns to his hometown after serving time in prison. While working for a local stray dog patrol – formed to rid the city of strays before the Olympics and led by the wry Uncle Yao (played by none other than China’s greatest living filmmaker Jia Zhangke) – he forms an unexpected bond with a black dog. The two outcasts embark on a new adventure beyond the reach of industrial development that has propelled China’s economy to unimaginable heights within global capitalism. Visually striking, the film deconstructs the trope of the man from the margins finding redemption, this time through a fateful encounter with an animal which, like him, inspires fear and misunderstanding. Guan Hu draws creatively from ancient Chinese mythology, including the legend of the Daoist deity Erlang, often depicted as a handsome young man accompanied by a devoted dog on a solitary journey (later identified in folklore as the god of truth and curiosity).
This atmospheric and grand cinematic tale contains elements of the Western – the silent antihero returns to a dilapidated hometown haunted by guilt over the incident that cost him his freedom – and noir, evoking biting social commentary and a fatalistic mood of a place suspended in a long-lost time, as the desperate, crime-inclined protagonist struggles to escape his seemingly predestined fate. Guan Hu delicately balances drama and stoic comedy, imbuing violent and tragic scenes with a certain Keaton-like poetic quality, amplified by Eddie Peng’s restrained but physically expressive performance, along with his canine companion, as two outcasts wander a callous world on the brink of collapse. (Dina Pokrajac)
Awards & Festivals:
Cannes Film Festival (2024) – World Premiere, Un Certain Regard Award; Valladolid International Film Festival (2024) – Best Director, Best Cinematography; Lisbon Film Festival (2024) – Best Film; Warsaw International Film Festival (2024) – Best Film
Guan Hu is a key figure of the influential sixth generation of film directors in China. He graduated from the Beijing Film Academy in 1991 and soon became the youngest director at the Beijing Film Studio. He made his debut in 1994 with Dirt, a challenging film about the Beijing rock scene in the early 1990s. His filmography includes low-budget, critical favourites, like his black comedy Cow (2009), as well as high-budget, ambitious films such as the World War II epic The Eight Hundred (2020). His tenth film Black Dog (2024) won the Un Certain Regard prize at last year’s Cannes.
