"When man is in trouble, God sends him a dog.”
Alphonse de Lamartine
#Venezia80 - Competition
Dogman
Luc Besson
The incredible story of a child, bruised by life, who will find his salvation through the love of his dogs.
Main Cast
Caleb Landry Jones, Jojo T. Gibbs, Christopher Denham, Clemens Schick, Grace Palma
The brilliant Caleb Landry Jones
.JPG)
"The inspiration for this film came, in part, from an article I read about a French family who threw their own child in a cage when he was five. This rose the question of what that does to a person mentally. How does someone survive and what do they do with their suffering? I wanted to explore that idea with Dogman. Suffering is something we all have in common, and the only antidote against it is love. Society won’t help you, but love can help to heal. It is the love of the community of dogs that Dogman has built that are the healer and the catalyst.
Dogman wouldn’t be the film it is without Caleb Landry Jones. This complicated character needed someone who could embody the challenges, the sadness, the desire, the strength, the complexity.
People watch movies to glean some sort of truth from the story, even though they know it’s fiction. I wanted to be as honest as I could be with the film. I want you to feel for the protagonist—the actions he takes, and the actions he takes in response to the suffering he’s experienced. You want to root for him.
I hope audiences can define in their own minds what Dogman went through, the pain that is really hard to swallow. He suffered more than most people will ever, and yet he still has dignity."
Luc Besson
Director's statement
Luc Besson with actors Caleb Landry Jones and Jojo T. Gibbs
Going to the Lido