White God
White God is a 2014 Hungarian drama film co-written and directed by Kornél Mundruczó and starring Zsófia Psotta. The film premiered on 17 May 2014, as part of the 2014 Cannes Film Festival.
Plot
A mixed-breed street dog named Hagen befriends troubled thirteen-year-old Lili, whose mother has just sent her to live with her estranged father, who has not seen Lili since she was an infant. Lili insists on keeping Hagen, but because Hagen is a mixed-breed, he is subject to a large "mongrel" fee imposed by the Hungarian government. Lili's father offers to buy Lili a purebred dog if only she will get rid of Hagen. Lili is angry that her father thinks Hagen can be so easily replaced, and the incident underscores the lack of understanding between father and daughter.Fearful that her father will get rid of Hagen while she is away, Lili takes the dog to her music class, where his appearance causes chaos. The teacher threatens to kick Lili out of music class unless she takes the dog outside. Instead, Lili strikes out with Hagen into the city, but they are found by her father, who left work to look for them after the music teacher phoned him. Lili's father is embarrassed by the incident, and in his anger, he drives Hagen to the outskirts of the city and abandons him on the side of the road. Hagen chases after their car but is unable to follow them.
Hagen begins a lonely journey wandering the city. He eventually befriends a white dog after it saves him from an angry butcher. After spending the night with other street dogs, a dog catcher pursues Hagen and the other street dogs. After a long chase, Hagen avoids the dog catchers with the help of a homeless man. However, the man sells Hagen to a dog fighting ring, where he is chained, starved, and trained to kill. In his first fight, he kills his opponent and escapes, but he is caught by animal control officers and brought to the city pound.
Meanwhile Lili, still angry with her father and upset by the loss of Hagen, goes to a party where drugs and alcohol are present. The party is raided by the police, and Lili is taken to the station. Arriving to pick her up, her father breaks into tears and admits that he was wrong to get rid of Hagen and that while he does not understand the now-teenage Lili, he still loves her. The two reconcile and her father, in a gesture of getting reacquainted with his daughter, promises to attend her upcoming concert.
On the other side of the city, Hagen escapes from the pound after killing one of the staff. He breaks open the cages and frees the other dogs, who follow him into the city. With Hagen as their leader, the dogs start an uprising against their human oppressors, wreaking mayhem as Hagen locates and kills all the people who harmed him. The pack reaches the concert hall where Lili is playing, and the concert-goers barricade themselves within for safety. Spotting Hagen, Lili sneaks out of the concert hall and follows the dog pack on her bicycle.
Followed by his army, Hagen goes to the slaughterhouse where Lili's father works, where they appear on the verge of taking revenge on him when Lili arrives. Hagen growls at Lili and his army surrounds her. Her father rushes from the building armed with a blowtorch to defend his daughter, but instead, Lili plays Franz Liszt's "Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2" on her trumpet. Hagen calms down and lies down to listen. All the other dogs lie down in a gesture of reconciliation as Lili sits in their midst and continues to play. She then lies down facing Hagen. Her father, stunned at the scene, puts down his weapon and goes to lie down beside his daughter.
Cast
- Zsófia Psotta as Lili
- Sándor Zsótér as Dániel
- Lili Horváth as Elza
- Szabolcs Thuróczy as Old man
- Lili Monori as Bev
- László Gálffi as Music teacher
- Gergely Bánki as Dog-catcher
- Tamás Polgár as Dog-catcher
- Bodie and Luke as Hagen the dog