DIRECTOR: Kornél Mundruczó STARRING: Zsófia Psotta, Sándor Zsótér, Lili Horváth, Szabolcs Thuróczy, Lili Monori, Gergely Bánki, Tamás Polgár, Károly Ascher, Erika Bodnár HUNGARY/GERMANY/SWEDEN 2014
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White God tells the story of Lili (Zsófia Psotta) and her faithful mixed breed companion, Hagen. Lily and Hagen come to live with their father, Daniel (Sándor Zsótér) and he casts Hagen into the street because he doesn’t want to pay taxes setting up Hagen’s painful journey to get back to Lili.
White God is a cinematic marvel, perhaps its allegories are obvious, however it feels truthful. The real story is the dogs. Hagen is played two siblings Luke and Bodie and watching Hagen is particularly captivating. Especially when the camera is brought down to ground level with the dogs it builds up a relationship with the audience.
However, towards the end, White God struggles at times knowing what it wants to be
tonally it shifts quite frequently and maybe that’s the intention, but as a viewer it is hard to keep up with. Director and co-writer Kornél Mundruczó blends many genres within White God and it’s a struggle to keep up with the shifting tone.
That shouldn’t put you off watching this mesmerising tale, part parable, part revenge tale, part melodrama and part love story. White God is a powerful film about the way we treat animals, but also the way we treat each other.
Words by Rod McCance