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Man Bites Dog: Imprint Collection #388
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray ALL - Australia - Via Vision Review written by and copyright: Noor Razzak (5th June 2025). |
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The Film
 "Man Bites Dog" is a disturbingly audacious piece of cinema—a satirical mockumentary that weaponizes the documentary form against itself. Shot in grainy black-and-white on a shoestring budget, the film chronicles a film crew’s descent into complicity as they follow and document the daily routine of Ben (Benoît Poelvoorde), a charismatic and philosophical serial killer. What begins as a detached observer’s perspective soon spirals into a perverse collaboration, blurring the lines between reportage and participation. At the core of the film’s transgressive power is Benoît Poelvoorde’s performance as Ben. He plays the role with such chilling casualness and wry humour that it forces viewers into an uneasy complicity, laughing one moment and recoiling the next. Ben speaks with the cadence of a poet or a professor, waxing on about urban gentrification, architecture, or the weight of corpses, giving the film an unsettling blend of intellectualism and savagery. The brilliance of "Man Bites Dog" lies in its meta-critique of media ethics and voyeurism. As the crew begins to aid Ben—holding down victims, providing logistical support—it ceases to be a neutral party. The satire turns its lens toward the audience and the filmmakers themselves, asking at what point the act of observation becomes an act of endorsement. The film offers no moral safety net, no moment of reckoning or redemption—only a spiralling immersion into depravity presented with alarming normalcy. Technically, the film's raw aesthetic works in its favour. The handheld camerawork, natural lighting, and diegetic sound design lend a documentary realism that heightens the horror. Its faux-verité style predates and arguably informs later entries in the found-footage and mockumentary genres, but few have matched its intensity or boldness. The violence is graphic and unflinching, and though often absurd, it refuses to offer catharsis or stylization. However, "Man Bites Dog" is not without controversy, and rightly so. Its graphic depictions of sexual violence, in particular, have drawn criticism and are difficult to defend, even within the context of satire. The film's refusal to clearly condemn its own characters or draw boundaries has led some to see it as nihilistic or even irresponsible. The film was eventually banned in some countries and the Uncut version of the film was previously unavailable in some. Yet this discomfort is arguably part of its design. "Man Bites Dog" is less a film about a serial killer than about the mechanisms of media complicity, desensitization, and the seduction of spectacle. It dares the viewer to laugh, then punishes them for it. It implicates everyone—filmmaker, subject, and spectator—in the moral vacuum it depicts. In the end, "Man Bites Dog" is a harrowing, confrontational work that pushes the boundaries of satire and cinema itself. It’s not an easy film to recommend, but it’s a necessary one for those willing to engage with its unflinching interrogation of violence and media responsibility. Few films are so willing to indict their own audience—and fewer still do it so effectively.
Video
Presented in a widescreen ratio of 1.67:1 mastered in HD 1080p 24/fps and using AVC MPEG-4 compression. Imprint has licensed this transfer as we've previously seen it before in editions released in France and Germany. Shot on 16mm film and on a shoestring budget the image is about as good as one can expect. The overall black and white image does lack some detail but this is just the limitations of 16mm film as apposed to shooting on 35mm, despite this there's a decent image here. Grain is predominant, black levels look fine, contrast is also decent. As far as an HD presentation goes you'll not likely find any better, and I'm not so sure a 4K scan could really improve on it.
Audio
A single audio track is included in French LPCM 2.0 stereo, the film is almost entirely dialogue heavy, and the stereo track does a fine job of presenting that. The instances of violence are well represented with decent levels for the gun shots, there is a lack of ambient sound but that's due to the limitations of a stereo track more than anything else, and I'm not convinced this could be improved with a surround track either so this stereo track does the trick. Optional subtitles are included in English only.
Extras
Imprint has delivered this film with some decent supplements including a new audio commentary but some additional video extras making this the most comprehensive Blu-ray release on the market today. Below is a closer look at these supplements. First up is a newly recorded feature-length audio commentary by film historian Samm Deighan, in this track she talks about how a group of student filmmakers got together to shoot this film, on a shoestring budget and over a period of time where they had to stop and start repeatedly whenever they ran out of money. She also comments on the impact of the film and on how raw and unfiltered the film is. She discusses the performances in the film, the development, staging, and on the challenges they faced among other things including on how it functions as a serial killer film. This is an excellent track that delved deep into the film, its themes, and on the controversies the film was involved in upon release. Next up is "Man with a Movie Camera: the found footage legacy of Man Bites Dog" this is a newly produced documentary (46:28) on the influence of "Man Bites Dog" and features interviews with Kōji Shiraishi, Dean Alioto, Stephen Volk & more. Produced by Sarah Appleton, who is an authority on found footage films, as the clip takes a look at the legacy of the film and on its impact in the genre. There are a collection of deleted and alternate scenes (31:26), collected in a reel these are scenes that were cut for various reasons primarily length and that they don't really add anything more to the final film. It's a nice curiosity to see but could have benefitted with an optional commentary to provide additional context. "No C4 for Daniel-Daniel AKA Pas De C4 Pour Daniel-Daniel" is a short film (11:59), this is a short from the filmmakers of this film, it follows a superhero named Daniel-Daniel, it's interesting but not all that good. Finally there is the film's original theatrical trailer (1:43)
Packaging
Packaged in a keep case that is housed in a cardboard slip-case and limited to 1500 copies globally.
Overall
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