Dogs Don't Wear Pants, 2019
An interesting theme has emerged in three of the last films I've watched (this one,
Veronika Decides to Die, and
The Earrings of Madame de . . . .): someone learning to feel deeply, no matter how much it hurts.
Years after his wife drowned (accidentally? on purpose?), heart surgeon Juha is living an outwardly fine but muted life, caring for a daughter on the edge of young adulthood. Intrigued by an intense, chance encounter with a dominatrix, Mona, Juha employs her to take him deeper into a coping mechanism--oxygen deprivation--that he's been unsuccessfully using to self-medicate.
The idea of BDSM as therapy is by no means a new idea. What I found most powerful about this portrayal of such a dynamic was (1) the clear presentation of how and why Juha benefits from his sessions with Mona and (2) the attention given to Mona's character and how her relationship with Juha impacts her.
This film is definitely not for the faint of heart. The main reason that I was able to watch it was because the sequences of more graphic gore were very easy to spot coming. I did fast forward one sequence because I knew I couldn't handle it. (For those wondering if they would want to also skip the sequences, there are two parts in the film that were a bit too much for me:
WARNING: spoilers below
in one sequence, the main character pulls out one of his nails. I held my hand up to block the top 90% of the screen so I could still read the subtitles. Later in the film, Mona uses pliers to remove one of Juha's teeth. This is the sequence that I skipped and it lasts for a looooooong time
in one sequence, the main character pulls out one of his nails. I held my hand up to block the top 90% of the screen so I could still read the subtitles. Later in the film, Mona uses pliers to remove one of Juha's teeth. This is the sequence that I skipped and it lasts for a looooooong time
).
But the film isn't just after shock value. It's clear that all of the people we see exploring this world of kink are getting something out of it. There is a clear sense of empathy underneath all of the action, which keeps it from just feeling like a freakshow where we gawp at all the kinksters. The pain inflicted on Juha becomes a bridge that allows him to get in touch with his pain, but at the same time the film doesn't lose sight of the cost to Mona (who works days as a physical therapist) of inflicting that pain.
My only real complaint with the film is that it doesn't take enough time to establish Mona's professional ethical obligations before moving into a space that is inappropriate. Asphyxiation is expert level kink play, but the film acts as if choking a person into unconsciousness is just a rote day-to-day event. Both Mona and Juha go to a dangerous place with their relationship, and I wish that the film had taken a bit more time to establish Mona's "normal".
A trope that the film admirably avoids is making Mona a kink version of the Manic Pixie Dream Girl. Not only by acknowledging the complexities of her own emotions, but by making Juha the driver of his own journey. In pursuing his emotions, Juha endangers his job, his health, and his relationship with his daughter. This isn't just the case of a tight-laced businessman discovering that he needs to follow his dreams with the help of a free-spirited woman. Juha's liberation comes at a cost, and it's not the kind of journey that ends with everything tied up in a neat bow.
It wasn't an easy watch, but it's a deeply human film that makes room for the inner lives of all of its characters.