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‘Isle of Dogs’: Quirky, Delightful Mashup
by Sandra Olmsted
Director Wes Anderson, who is famous for The Grand Budapest Hotel, Moonrise Kingdom, and Fantastic Mr. Fox, combines his quirky storytelling style with that of myths and legends in Isle Of Dogs. The faux-myths and pseudo-legends are, of course, of Anderson’s own creation, and he co-wrote this film. For me, Anderson is the Hitchcock of quirkiness.
In ancient Japan, the domestication and popularizing of dogs pushes cats aside, much to the disgust of the cat-loving Kobayashi family. In this futuristic setting, a Kobayashi has become the powerful mayor of the fictional city of Megasaki. Mayor Kobayashi (voice of Kunichi Nomura) spreads rumors about “snout fever” aka dog-flu infecting people and bans all dogs. The first dog deported is Spots (voice of Liev Schreiber), the protector of Atari (voice of Koyu Rankin), the mayor’s adopted ward. Locked in his cage and dropped like garbage onto the waste of Trash Island, Spots seems doomed to starvation. Determined to rescue his beloved dog, Atari pilots a small plane to Trash Island and crashes among the packs of dogs.
While the closest pack of dogs discuss the possibility of eating “the little pilot,” Akari regains consciousness. The pack, which consists of Duke, Boss, Chief, King, and Rex (voices of Jeff Goldblum, Bill Murray, Bryan Cranston, Bob Balaban, and Edward Norton, respectively), befriends Atari and eventually decides to help him find Spots. Chief isn’t too sure about accepting Atari as part of the pack, but the beautiful Nutmeg (voice of Scarlett Johansson), a pedigreed dog with “papers,” persuades Chief to help Atari because “dogs love 12-year-old boys.” To get help finding Spots, Atari and the pack seek the help of the wise old dogs, Jupiter (F. Murray Abraham), a cask-wearing St. Bernard, and the aged pug known as The Oracle (Tilda Swinton), who sees an even darker future for the dogs of Trash Island.
Soon, Atari and the pack begin a quest to the outreaches of Trash Island where Spots may be living among the “native” dogs, who are cannibals. Meanwhile, Mayor Kobayashi searches for Atari by sending his minions to bring his ward home by any means necessary and decrees that exile isn’t enough. All the dogs must be killed. Then, American Tracy Walker (Greta Gerwig), a foreign exchange student in Japan, throws the whole force of her school’s student paper into to stopping Kobayashi. She also stumbles onto the questionable death of Science Party candidate Professor Watanabe (Akira Ito), whose team has a snout fever cure.
Slightly more style than substance, Anderson’s Isle of Dogs focuses more on the medium than the message; however, there are political undercurrents. At the expense of the dogs and their owners, the mayor manipulates the media and the people for his own personal agenda and to perpetuate a “genocide” against the dogs. Anderson’s film is also full of star’s voices, including Frances McDormand, who voices the city’s official news translator. While the dogs speak English, the translator provides English for some dialogue; however, some dialogue remains in Japanese but only dialogue that doesn’t need translation. Anderson’s attention to detail and references to Japanese cinema greats, such as Akira Kurosawa and Yasujiro Ozu, and forms, such as anime, literature, haiku, and traditional Japanese scrolls, make his stylish and quirky film a delightful mashup. Anderson’s Isle of Dogs, a Fox Searchlight Pictures release, is rated PG-13 for thematic elements and some violent images and runs 101 minutes. Isle of Dogs is in theaters now.
