Film: Dobermann
Year of production: 1997
UK Release date: 25th April 2011
Distributor: Second Sight
Certificate: 18
Running time: 99 mins
Director: Jan Kounen
Starring: Vincent Cassel, Tchéky Karyo, Monica Bellucci, Antoine Basler, Dominique Bettenfeld
Genre: Action/Crime/Drama/Thriller
Format: DVD
Country of Production: France
Language: French/English/Spanish
Released back in the late 1990s, Dobermann was an antidote to the bland offerings of the time and a French response to English speaking taboo breakers like Reservoir Dogs and Natural Born Killers. But in this more permissive time, with the advent of a new breed of horror pushing the boundaries of screen violence, and Asian masters of cinema such as Miike showing us just what it’s like to be on the edge of permissiveness, does Dobermann still hold the same power?
During the christening of Yann Le Pentrec, a Doberman scratches on the church door. One of his uncles has brought the baby a gun as a present. When the Doberman enters the church, and the gun goes flying into baby Yann’s pram after a collision, the family discover that he takes to the weapon like it was a new toy. And so Dobermann is born.
Years later, we meet the adult Dobermann and his girl, Nat, robbing an armoured car before going on to meet with the rest of his gang of lunatics and misfits for the heist of the century.
In broad daylight, the gang rob a succession of banks, throwing Paris into chaos. The police are in turmoil, unable to control the situation. Unfortunately, Dobermann’s plan has put him squarely on the radar of psychotic detective Christini, who will stop at nothing to get him.
As Christini closes in on Dobermann and his crew of reprehensible criminals, they find themselves trapped and prepare for a confrontation of epic proportions…
Dobermann is not an easy film to sit through. Apart from the violence, and there is more than enough to make the hardened viewer squirm, the soundtrack pumps with little consideration for the eardrums, and the pace and editing make for a literally breathtaking experience. It is not always pretty; in fact the majority of the film is an ugly mess of violence, loathsome characters and techno. That said, it’s hard not to like the film as a whole, if only for the way the filmmakers have chosen to batter the viewer repeatedly in nearly every scene and make no apologies for doing so. It’s a mesmeric experience, and one you’re not likely to forget, for better or worse.
The robberies that form the crux of the film are nothing especially inventive or daring. There is little spectacle to them when viewed alongside countless other heist movies, but the little touches, such as placing a grenade in the helmet of a pursuing police motorcyclist, make the whole affair seem so outlandish that you can forget the shortcomings. This is not Heat after all.
The characters on offer start at despicable and descend the scale to scum of the earth. There is not one redeeming feature to any of them. Dobermann himself is a violent and nasty criminal who delights in shooting and blowing things up, as well as humiliating the odd victim of his robberies. He isn’t a character that as a viewer we have any real sympathies with. But that’s ok, because as a villain (oh yes, Dobermann is not the villain of this piece) we are given the despicable Detective Christini, a man so utterly foul that he makes Dobermann look like a lovable rogue. After all, any policeman who thinks nothing of throwing a baby across a room or giving it a grenade to play with during an interrogation is going to make anyone sympathise with the criminal he’s chasing.
This is the main problem with the film. For all the flashy photography and breakneck pace, the characters are so impossible to relate to that we are never allowed to view the film as anything other than an excuse for violence. This leaves the whole film feeling like a bit of throwaway fun rather than a subversive experiment in what’s permissible. Unlike, say, Ichi the Killer, which had at its core a statement on the way we view screen violence, Dobermann seems content to throw brutal acts at us and never allows us to get over one before hurling another, without commenting on any of them. This could be Dobermann’s undoing, but the film has enough genuine adrenalin-fuelled fun in its arsenal that anyone looking for 100 minutes of action will not be disappointed.
Cassel is good as the titular lead, but his onscreen charisma has been better displayed in other, superior films. Monica Bellucci isn’t given much to do except look ridiculously gorgeous and shoot things, which she does effortlessly and with considerable style, stealing most scenes she appears in through sheer presence. Tcheky Karyo is creepy and disgusting as Christini and makes for a very believable monster. The rest of the performances are a great deal of fun, but no one stands out as being anything other than walking comic characters (this might even be a compliment as the film is based on a series of comics).
Director Kounen has loaded the frame with enough crazy images to make the eyes bleed. Some are visceral, some are sexual, some are beautiful, but all are loud and searing. The quiet hideout for the gang is contrasted to good effect with the chaotic Paris streets, which are rife with fodder for the array of weaponry on offer. The first shot of adult Dobermann centres on the barrel of his oversized gun and from there his and everyone else’s weapons are almost fetishised throughout. The climactic confrontation between the gang and the police takes place in a club that could easily be Hell. The music is deafening, the imagery gaudy, and the violence extreme. It’s a potent mix that will work for some, but will definitely not be to everyone’s taste.
While it would be easy to dismiss Dobermann as a gratuitous orgy of violence, it is hard not to fall for its charms, such as they are. It is a film that will definitely not appeal to everyone, but one which has retained the shock value that set it apart from an array of Tarantino-style rip-offs, despite some heavy competition over the years. You’ll know whether it’s to your taste before it’s even begun: if the sight of an animated dog urinating on the opening credits doesn’t do it for you then it’s probably best to avoid it. For the rest of us, it’s insane, violent, over-the-top, crass - and a lot of fun. RM
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