Dominion Dominate

As the owner of a beloved pet rabbit and also as a man getting older by the minute, I am becoming more and more sensitive to cruelty to animals in a strange way.

I watched a very traumatic French film last night and I was a bit horrified at the “cold-heartedness” of the reputable film maker Robert Bresson.  The film was Au hazard Balthazar and I hear its so-called sister film Mouchette is even crueler to animals having won an 8^th place in IMDB’s list.

I am far from being a PETA or vegan freak but I do not see the necessity of cruelty for the sake of art.  The very strange reactions in the comments do not surprise me much as there are plenty of idiots out there and many do not seem to know the difference between acting and real.

Another film I had found quite traumatic as well was Renoir’s La règle du jeu.

French in the 30’s and in the 60’s did not seem to mind showing it.  They are not guiltier than their Russian, Spanish, Chinese or even American counterpart but from what I hear it is hard for one to be a vegetarian tourist in Paris and the techniques of producing foie gras have always been quite controversial.  

Add to this an existentialist approach and maybe some  Dostoyevsky/Dostoïevski and who knows?

Even Dexter could show some controlled violence towards animals by removing the offending dog and relocating him in a less offensive place. J

So now I am not quite sure if I want to continue my exploration of Bresson and watch this ‘sister-film’.  I probably will knowing me even though I am getting more and more soft core every day now. Curiosity might win on this one but I am not pushing the envelope anymore. 

Life is all we have and every breath counts and is precious.  

In a strange dichotomous paradox I will still eat my chicken/lamb/pork/beef every day though but I carry flies and spiders live outside, well sometimes anyway not all the time J I did put rabbits out of my menu though. J

The attitude though is still ongoing from what I hear not only in B movies like Cannibal Holocaust but in ‘reputable’ filmmakers like Lars Von Trier and a scene to cruel to survive the editing floor in Manderlay from what I hear.

At least we know that the horrifying scenes of Antichrist were NOT real. I still have those deeply encrusted in my mind now therefore my reason for getting more and more soft core; some things just cannot be unseen.

Tripping horses and cockfighting and bullfighting will go on for quite some time I am afraid showing us the absolute ‘superiority’ of man over the animal kingdom given to him by god himself.  Read highly sarcastic tone here.

I don’t quite see the correlation though between smug existentialism and cruelty to animals.

O well here is my piece on film criticism, a commentary I will not attach to the IMDB long debate but some notes I needed to clarify in my head and what better way than writing them down now.

P.S. After having seen Mouchette, right on the top of my head I would put Au hasard Balthazar and La règle du jeu above 8 in the list of cruelties from my POV and talking only of what I have seen personally.