Lawn Dog is about a newly moved family in a small up-market rich county town in a guarded - walled neighborhood
Devon - a 10 year old girl is sent around to make friends by distributing cookies made at home
Unlike the routine - Devon gets to know the poor lawn mower young lad Trent - staying in a vehicle trailer in a forest - and both of them forges an innocent love friendship
But things turn ugly because of the unusual friendship and the unfolding of events
The story is written by Naomi Wallace and the movie is directed by an Australian director John Duigan (A Masters in Philosophy student)
This story is based on the Russian folklore of Baba Yaga
220px-Bilibin._Baba_Yaga.jpg
Baba Yaga is an ugly ferocious looking old women who flies around and descends on a forest in a hut. She may either hinder or may help those whom she encounters
The folklore of Baba Yaga is very famous in Eastern Europe and there are those who consider Baba Yaga as a helper or a villain or something obscure and ambiguous.
She is remarkably adored as a multi-faceted figure head There are many stories of Baba Yaga in local Eastern European and Southern Russian Literatures from a wild witch to an Old Angel - depending on the plot she takes the role the story teller wants her to take to take the story forward.
**** In Lawn Dogs - Devon is the 10 year old child who is a figurative representation of Baba Yaga.
The writer Naomi Wallace has brilliantly narrated the tale - by giving an unkind characterization of the child that is weird, quirky, lonesome, brave, stupid, yet likable
From the beginning The Director John Duigan has planted stories of biases across gender roles and rich-poor / educated - illiterate divide filled with underlined biases and prejudices.
There is also a deliberate effort to show sexual overtones in all characters around this 10 years old child Devon - who is a growing girl just on the verge of adolescence.
Due to which as an audience there is always this uneasy feeling about this relationship of this young girl with this older young man - they belong to different strata of the society - with nothing in common between them
They Devon and Trent become close friends.
This movie was controversial was because of several reasons It was banned in United Kingdom and USA - until the Director agreed to cut a few scenes
Sexual scenes, frontal nudity, brutal killing scene of a dog and above all this unusual relationship between Devon and Trent which was frowned and looked down upon by the UK and US audiences
But the relationship between Devon and Trent is pure and innocent. They are just very good friends.
The tempo of the movie is nice and builds up with events till it reaches a climax which - as predicted is detrimental to our hero Trent's survival and life.
That is the time the story takes a magical turn where Devon shows her power as a Baba Yaga witch.
The movie is nothing but a beautiful poignant fable - One more addition to the Baba Yaga Legend.story telling
I liked the movie a lot - especially because it showed pure true LOVE between two human being with totally contrasting - everything
I would go 7.5 out of 10 for this small marvel. Watch it.
The story is written by Naomi Wallace and the movie is directed by an Australian director John Duigan (A Masters in Philosophy student)
This story is based on the Russian folklore of Baba Yaga
220px-Bilibin._Baba_Yaga.jpg
Baba Yaga is an ugly ferocious looking old women who flies around and descends on a forest in a hut. She may either hinder or may help those whom she encounters
The folklore of Baba Yaga is very famous in Eastern Europe and there are those who consider Baba Yaga as a helper or a villain or something obscure and ambiguous.
She is remarkably adored as a multi-faceted figure head There are many stories of Baba Yaga in local Eastern European and Southern Russian Literatures from a wild witch to an Old Angel - depending on the plot she takes the role the story teller wants her to take to take the story forward.
**** In Lawn Dogs - Devon is the 10 year old child who is a figurative representation of Baba Yaga.
The writer Naomi Wallace has brilliantly narrated the tale - by giving an unkind characterization of the child that is weird, quirky, lonesome, brave, stupid, yet likable
From the beginning The Director John Duigan has planted stories of biases across gender roles and rich-poor / educated - illiterate divide filled with underlined biases and prejudices.
There is also a deliberate effort to show sexual overtones in all characters around this 10 years old child Devon - who is a growing girl just on the verge of adolescence.
Due to which as an audience there is always this uneasy feeling about this relationship of this young girl with this older young man - they belong to different strata of the society - with nothing in common between them
They Devon and Trent become close friends.
This movie was controversial was because of several reasons It was banned in United Kingdom and USA - until the Director agreed to cut a few scenes
Sexual scenes, frontal nudity, brutal killing scene of a dog and above all this unusual relationship between Devon and Trent which was frowned and looked down upon by the UK and US audiences
But the relationship between Devon and Trent is pure and innocent. They are just very good friends.
The tempo of the movie is nice and builds up with events till it reaches a climax which - as predicted is detrimental to our hero Trent's survival and life.
That is the time the story takes a magical turn where Devon shows her power as a Baba Yaga witch.
The movie is nothing but a beautiful poignant fable - One more addition to the Baba Yaga Legend.story telling
I liked the movie a lot - especially because it showed pure true LOVE between two human being with totally contrasting - everything
I would go 7.5 out of 10 for this small marvel. Watch it.