- 2014
- Cinema Guild
- 2 h 18 m
SummaryA father and his two children wander the margins of modern day Taipei, from the woods and rivers of the outskirts to the rain streaked streets of the city. By day the father scrapes out a meager income as a human billboard for luxury apartments, while his young son and daughter roam the supermarkets and malls surviving off free food samples. Each...
Directed By:Ming-liang Tsai
Written By:Ming-liang Tsai, Peng Fei Song, Cheng-Yu Tung
Stray Dogs
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
84
User score
Generally Favorable
6.3
My Score
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Metascore
Universal Acclaim
84
86% Positive
12 Reviews
12 Reviews
14% Mixed
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Aug 24, 2014
100
Tsai isn't making a social-problem film here, and his critique of patriarchal control is secondary to his portrait of unbearable psychic conditions.
Sep 16, 2013
100
Every shot of Stray Dogs has been built with utter formal mastery; every sequence exerts an almost telepathic grip.
Sep 10, 2014
91
The plight of this struggling family unit weighs more heavily on the heart with each passing minute, making Stray Dogs the rare marathon-length art film that seems to grow less oppressive the longer it goes on.
Sep 9, 2014
90
Stray Dogs evokes the whole of Tsai’s filmography, but also pays off his collaboration with Lee, who shows a side of himself that’s been hidden away for all these years.
Sep 9, 2014
80
The lengthy final two shots (each running more than ten minutes) rank among the best work this inimitable artist has ever done.
Sep 9, 2014
70
An extreme, compassionate magnification of the minutiae of second-to-second existence (brushing teeth, counting money).
Sep 16, 2013
60
Tsai here seems to be stripping his ornately eccentric style down to formal fundamentals. A certain pictorial grace remains; his sense of humor, sadly, appears to have been largely tossed out with the bathwater.
User score
Generally Favorable
6.3
50% Positive
6 Ratings
6 Ratings
33% Mixed
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
17% Negative
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
Jul 25, 2020
8
This is one of the hateful cases of me saying, "This is not a film for everyone." Pretentious, of course, but completely true. Stray Dogs from Taiwanese director Tsai Ming-liang, is a lengthy gloomy, and beautiful family drama that, due to its focus and style, completely departs from any mainstream current and becomes an offer that can only be enjoyed by film lovers interested in something. more than just entertainment. The film is hypnotic and incredibly well shot, but not necessarily well-constructed narratively speaking.
The power comes from the images and the way the film surrounds you. The idea is to be contemplative and the film stands out in that field with its long and perfectly shots.
The work is not impeccable, but it's still, really, really good. Strays Dogs is an immersive film if you're willing to experience it.
If it's not your style, better not even try it.
Report
Production Company:
- Agence Nationale de Gestion des Oeuvres Audiovisuelles (ANGOA)
- Centre National du Cinéma et de l'Image
- Homegreen Films
- House on Fire
- JBA Production
- MEDIA Programme of the European Union
- Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation
- Taipei City Government
- Taipei Film Commission
- Urban Distribution International
Release Date:Sep 12, 2014
Duration:2 h 18 m
Genres:
Website:
Awards
Golden Horse Film Festival
• 2 Wins & 5 Nominations
Asia-Pacific Film Festival
• 2 Wins & 5 Nominations
Asian Film Awards
• 4 Nominations
