Puppy Love

new post for the moving film Hachi A Dog's Tail, this is an excellent film which I highly recommend. Enjoy .....

FILM ONLY REVIEW

At a small train station in Bedridge Professor Parker Wilson is making his usual commute home when he stumbles on a small puppy which appears to be lost. He takes to dog to the office but he is told that if no one claims him he will be sent to the pound. Parker takes the puppy home with the intention of finding its owner. His wife is not happy about the puppy as they have recently lost their own dog.

The following morning Parker sets about tracking the owner but has no luck so the dog ends up at home with him again. The next morning the puppy goes to work with Parker where he discovers from a colleague that the dog is not a normal one, it has been bread by monks to be a hunting dog and the markings on the tag say that the dog is called Hachi.

Hachi soon becomes part of the family and settles in well forming a very strong bond with Parker, he goes so far as to walking to the station every morning and the returning at night to meet Parker when he gets off the train. Hachi becomes a strong member of the community and when disaster strikes the family he is not going to be moved.

How far and how long will Hachi wait?

I have looked forward to seeing this film for quite some time now but hubby has never really fancied it as he thought it would involve the dog dying and he would not be able to watch that, I ca say that Hachi does not die so don’t let this put you off. Do not feel that I have spoilt the film by giving this away as there is so much more to the story and it is not spoilt in the slightest by this fact. I did find the story to be very good and quite moving at times and at the very end I found out that this was a true story ad for some reason it made the story more powerful and moving for me. The way the story was told was very good and I liked the fact it spread over many years as this kept it quite fresh and not at all dull or boring.

The acting was great, Richard Gere took the lead role of Parker and I found his to do an excellent job. He seemed very natural and at ease working with the dog and the way he let his emotions and feeling come out made he seem more genuine and likable. He delivered all of his lines with ease and seemed to have an honest and true bond with the dog. There was some good parts with Parker and his wife and they too worked well on screen together and came across as a very happy couple. The real star of the film was Hachi, he was a wonderful dog and looked so cute, he managed to act excellently and come across in a very friendly and kind way. He did put some good facial expressions over when Parker would be talking to him and I think this helped me a lot to understand how the dog was feeling and just how much love he had to his owner. We had some very good support actors in the film and they all came across well and did help to bring some depth to the story.

The story was told through the eyes of Parkers grandson and he opened the film before we went back to flashbacks, it was easy to follow as we did not keep going back to the present time and did only return there at the end of the film. We also got to see small parts through the eyes of Hachi, we could easily work out these parts though as they were lacking in colour and we were always looking at things from a lower level. I thought this was a nice inclusion in the film.

There were no real special effects in the film and none were needed. The one aspect which I found to be excellent was the dog training, Hachi was amazing and looked so at ease on screen and he always had a good playful look to his eyes. The trainers really worked hard to make the role so good. The costumes and sets were also very good and realistic, no real effort was needed as the film was only set a few year previous so normal clothes were worn. The music was good and did help with the tone and emotions of the story but personally it is not a soundtrack I would go out a buy.

This is a film only review so there are no bonus features to speak about. The DVD is available for around the £7 price tag which I think is very reasonable although this is being shown on Sky movies now.

I am more than happy to give this film a high recommendation and the full 5 stars as I loved it. The story and acting are excellent but I would warn it may bring a tear to the eye more than once!