White God

Name: White God
Genre: Drama
Released: March 27, 2015
Duration: 121 min
Rating: 80
Cast: Lili Horváth, Sándor Zsótér, Zsófia Psotta

2015

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 29 Critics

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 46 Ratings

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7.3

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7.3	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 46 Ratings

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White God (US)

Movie Details & Credits

Not Rated

Magnolia Pictures | Release Date: March 27, 2015

Starring: Lili Horváth, Sándor Zsótér, Zsófia Psotta

Summary: When young Lili is forced to give up her beloved dog Hagen, because it's mixed-breed heritage is deemed unfit by The State, she and the dog begin a dangerous journey back towards each other. At the same time, all the unwanted, unloved and so-called unfit dogs rise up under a new leader, Hagen, the one-time housepet who has learned all tooWhen young Lili is forced to give up her beloved dog Hagen, because it's mixed-breed heritage is deemed unfit by The State, she and the dog begin a dangerous journey back towards each other. At the same time, all the unwanted, unloved and so-called unfit dogs rise up under a new leader, Hagen, the one-time housepet who has learned all too well from his journey through the streets and animal control centers. [Magnolia Pictures]… Expand

Director: Kornél Mundruczó

Genre(s): Drama

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 121 min

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Awards & Rankings

70	#70 Best Movie of 2015

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Metascore

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Critic Reviews

100

Miami Herald - Rene Rodriguez

Apr 9, 2015

White God is the rare sort of movie in the era of computer-generated special effects where you can’t believe your eyes, because what you’re looking at is real. Read full review

100

Variety - Guy Lodge

May 26, 2014

Not merely a story of interspecies hierarchy, then, White God also puts forward a simple but elegant metaphor for racial and class oppression, as the outcast (or even outcaste) masses, sidelined in favor of the elite few, band together to assert their collective strength. Read full review

The New York Times - Manohla Dargis

Mar 26, 2015

In classic narrative fashion, Mr. Mundruczo works the setup like a burlesque fan dancer, teasing out the reveal bit by bit. Read full review

CineVue - Ben Nicholson

May 26, 2014

The ultimate message may be a little fuzzy, but Mundruczó has crafted a incredibly cinematic canine parable that remains gripping and inventive from its nose to its tail. Read full review

Boston Globe - Ty Burr

Apr 9, 2015

What saves the movie are those sequences of massed animals running riot through Budapest, overwhelming squadrons of police sharpshooters, and taking over a student performance of Liszt’s “Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2.” Hardly subtle, yet the scene yields one shot — of dogs glaring down from the box seats of a fancy concert hall — that’s nearly worthy of Buñuel. Read full review

Movie Nation - Roger Moore

Mar 24, 2015

A quote by the poet Rainer Maria Rilke opens White God — “Everything terrible is something that needs our love.” But that goes for the film, too. Who will want to see a movie so focused on dogs, in which they’re brutalized and killed? Read full review

Slant Magazine - Jesse Cataldo

Mar 14, 2015

It affects a general air of artistically inclined realism, but it's mostly concerned with building tension via a steady accumulation of flatly conceived misery. Read full review

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User Reviews

LeZee

Sep 2, 2015

The day when the dogs stopped wagging their tails.

This movie was a tricky one, because everyone cannot understand and everyone cannot enjoy it. In this modern world, the computer graphics are easily available to illude the audience, so who would still use the silly old practical trickeryThe day when the dogs stopped wagging their tails.

This movie was a tricky one, because everyone cannot understand and everyone cannot enjoy it. In this modern world, the computer graphics are easily available to illude the audience, so who would still use the silly old practical trickery in a film making. Must have been the hard work to manage plenty of the dogs during the shooting. But I believe there are hardly any major CGI works other than the bluescreen works. If you get the movie, then that's fine, if not, you may get some ideas through this review. Before proceeding I just want to alert the readers the review might contain some spoilers which is not measured.

The Hungary's entry for the last concluded Oscars. The movie talks about a girl Lili in her early teenage, aspiring musician and her mixed breed dog name Hagen. When a circumstance forces them apart, the individual life journey begins for both of them. The girl becomes rebellious towards her father and the dog towards the human society like a piece of iron bar pulled away from the magnet. Will they unite again? Is the rest of the story with the breathtaking second half.

This dark fantasy (like dark comedy) film was like the old days, like the black and white beast or the monster films similar to 'King Kong' and others, where animals can think like humans, execute like humans, but still not a fairytale nor the science fiction. Because sci-fi applies theoretical probabilities, animal psychology et cetera, while fairytale is a magic. It will come between sci-fi and fantasy, most likely an adult version of the fantasy tale. Comparing it with 'Birds' is one hundred per cent not agreeable, because unlike the dogs, the birds' behaviours were unknown. But 'Conquest of the Planet of the Apes' was the closest one, and you can compare Caesar with Hagen.

It does not end there, I believe you all have seen the last year's genuinely written screenplay 'Lucy'. You may wonder why this comparison, because this film is about dogs, yet the title strangely pronounced as 'God'. What I understood was that Hagen was drugged with cocaine (white powder) like the blue powder in the other film and he started to change his personality. So that explains the coke was the 'White God' and the rest follows the story of revenge, leadership and ultimately the revolution.

"It's hard to lose someone you love.
Things don't work out the way we imagined."

Off the record: Most of us know that the dogs are derived from the wolves. Yet they have lost the freedom compared to a few centuries ago who walked freely on the human streets. Every dog must have a master/owner or it will be put to sleep rather keeping and feeding them forever in the dog pound. So I think dogs are suffering more than the apes and they deserved the revolution (according to this film).

Animal abuse was highlighted in the movie. The story was descended from there and what happens if they takeover us is the movie's view. One of the weirdest movie of the year, but different and good. If you ever had a dog, you will know they were adorable, even in the violent scenes. Because they were just playing, but that does not the case for children and those who never been with dogs. Every shot that had dogs were cleverly achieved, the outcome was very convincing.

I have heard the crew used two brothers for the Hagen role. They both were awesome, equals to any main human characters from the movie. Another 250 mixed-breed stray dogs were participated in the film making and later most of them were adopted. Believe me the movie was a good one, but some people had a hard time accepting the oddity of the theme. It won a couple of awards at Cannes film festival, including one for the Hagen's character performance.

The Hungarian film industry to make into the international level, they should take the cue from this success and must bring the sequel with a broader cast. Nowadays, experimental movies like this are welcomed by the moviegoers around the globe. Definitely, an interesting story with the striking scenes and dialogues would make everyone turn toward the eastern Europe. Obviously I recommend this one, but never expect the style of Hollywood, it had approached its own way to give a pleasing movie.

8/10… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

JLuis_001

Sep 6, 2017

White God interested me a lot for its proposal and story, I liked it but in terms quite different from the expected ones, nevertheless it does not make change my opinion.
White God is not a 100% digestible, but it deserves to be seen and admired.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

TheLeapist

Apr 2, 2015

The movie is decent enough in and of itself, but what truly amazes me are the dogs. Rather, I should say the dog trainers perhaps. Hundreds of dogs on screen all "acting." It's truly astounding. I believe it's genuinely worth watching for that alone but it is on top of that an enjoyable filmThe movie is decent enough in and of itself, but what truly amazes me are the dogs. Rather, I should say the dog trainers perhaps. Hundreds of dogs on screen all "acting." It's truly astounding. I believe it's genuinely worth watching for that alone but it is on top of that an enjoyable film if not a bit preachy with its overly obvious metaphors.… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

ForrestG

Oct 10, 2015

Overall, I enjoyed the film as a good piece of cinematography. Quite simple yet engaging.
The only issue I had was with was the sound effects. Or rather... dubbing of animals. Every time we see Hagen, he whimpers. Dogs DO NOT whimper when they play with a toy. Dogs DO NOT whimper when theirOverall, I enjoyed the film as a good piece of cinematography. Quite simple yet engaging.
The only issue I had was with was the sound effects. Or rather... dubbing of animals. Every time we see Hagen, he whimpers. Dogs DO NOT whimper when they play with a toy. Dogs DO NOT whimper when their pose clearly shows that they are relaxed. And in some shots it was absolutely unnecessary to add these extra noises to highlight certain atmosphere or mood. So, whoever was responsible for sound effects, clearly didn't know that dogs don't always try to communicate, sometimes they are simply quiet.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

The_GRA

Aug 30, 2015

No idea why this movie got good reviews from critics. I was excited about the premise, since I am a huge dog lover who also enjoys revenge flicks, but this was a utter waste of two long long hours. Why? The acting of the little girl was wooden at best, there were too many scenes that wereNo idea why this movie got good reviews from critics. I was excited about the premise, since I am a huge dog lover who also enjoys revenge flicks, but this was a utter waste of two long long hours. Why? The acting of the little girl was wooden at best, there were too many scenes that were unnecessary, the motivations of some of the terribly cliched characters made no sense, and the pacing was off. Furthermore, I still don't know if it was supposed to be a love story, horror story, or coming of age story. I'm giving this a 2 solely for the dogs in the movie; they were well trained and the main dog, Hagen/Max, was the best actor in the entire film!… Expand

1 of 2 users found this helpful11

cjohll

Apr 13, 2015

I saw this last night at the Wisconsin Film Festival, and was really disappointed. The film was poorly paced, full of cliches and the characters frequently made absurd, illogical decisions. So many things in White God made no flipping sense at all.

Overall, I don't think the directorI saw this last night at the Wisconsin Film Festival, and was really disappointed. The film was poorly paced, full of cliches and the characters frequently made absurd, illogical decisions. So many things in White God made no flipping sense at all.

Overall, I don't think the director knew what kind of movie he wanted to make. It wasn't a good horror flick. It was a terrible drama. And it was a tired coming-of-age story about a teenager that I didn't care about.

In a word, this movie was simply...dumb.… Expand

2 of 3 users found this helpful21

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