By Maria-Nefeli Andredaki,
As promised, this is a continuation on the analysis of Dogtooth by Yorgos Lanthimos, a movie whose analysis could not possibly fit in one small article. Piggybacking off of the last point made about language, it seems that the eldest daughter is the one who is able to break free, due to her exposure to art; the movies Rocky and Jaws. But how did that happen in this highly controlled environment? Christina, the security guard who was employed by the father for the sexual gratification of the son, attempted to gain sexual favors from the eldest daughter by offering her something in return. The daughter found the tapes and, understanding that she was doing something that breached the rules of the household, watched them in private.
To me, this is an indication of how art can educate the public. The daughter is not only able to hear, for the first time in her life, the language she is familiar with in a different context, but she is also able to see people interact, their power-dynamics and how they operate in a fictional world that is closer to the real one than what she has experienced. She learns new vocabulary, which might sound absurd out of context but gives her new ways of clearly expressing herself. For instance, after a forced and unpleasant incestuous encounter with her brother (because after the tapes were discovered, Christina was molested and laid off by the father), the daughter calmly said “Do that again, bitch, and I’ll rip your guts out. I swear on my daughter’s life you and your clan won’t last long in this neighborhood”, which is a direct quote from Rocky. Also, the daughter’s exposure to these movies is a great example of the significant role that art plays in politics, especially in resistance against totalitarian and fascist regimes. It is this exposure to and imitation of the situations in the films that slowly awaken the daughter and push her towards her “escape”.
Another thing I want to touch on is the mirror theme of the film. There is something in children’s development which, according to Lacan, is called “the mirror stage”. This is the point when a child sees their reflection and recognizes it as themselves, as a whole entity. In the opening scene, the eldest daughter is sitting right in front of the bathroom mirror, but with her back towards it. Throughout the film, none of the characters acknowledge their mirror reflections, despite that there are mirrors in the house. This symbolizes the suppression of personal identity formation of these “children”, who are in fact adults, living under a fascist regime. They do not see themselves as individuals, neither are they interested in their physical appearance whatsoever. Rather, they are just parts of a family structure. After the tapes, the eldest daughter asks her younger sister to call her “Bruce”, which is a character from Rocky. Whether she identifies with that character, it is the first time that one of the children defines their identity in any way.
At last, the daughter takes a dumbbell and smashes her dogtooth in order to be able to leave the household and venture into the outside world, which is what their father has told them that happens when your tooth falls out. It is the first scene in which a character looks themselves in the mirror, indicating the mirror-stage point in her development, where she recognizes herself thanks to the seeds that forbidden art planted. Whether she escaped or not in the end, is up to the viewer. If you ask me, the ultimate escape is that from the mental jail that your oppressors put you in. To me, Dogtooth shows how subversive art can liberate people, or rather, how art can give people the tools to liberate themselves.
Reference
- Jacques Lacan in Theory- Yale Courses. YouTube. Available here
