Start the week with a film: ‘Black Dog’ is a poignant tale of feral dogs and stray humans

Few have documented the impact of economic change on society as have Chinese directors. In the films of Wang Xiaoshuai (So Long, My Son) and Jia Zhangke (24 City), the brutal effects of breakneck growth are mostly deeply seen and felt in physical surroundings – villages, urban housing complexes, factories. It’s fitting, then, that Jia Zhangke has a cameo in Guan Hu’s Black Dog (2024).

Guan’s film is set in the Chinese section of the Gobi Desert. Stunt rider Lang (Eddie Peng) is on his way back home after serving a prison sentence. The bus in which Lang is travelling flips over when a pack of stray dogs crosses its path – the first indication that Lang’s fate will be tied up with canines.

Lang arrives to find his town undergoing a massive transformation. It has been earmarked for redevelopment in preparation for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. Many residents have already departed, leaving behind hollowed-out buildings and shuttered stores. The local zoo has very few animals left, among them a lazy tiger.

The town’s authorities are more worried about the feral dogs running about. They promise that whoever captures the animals will get a reward and the title of honorary citizen. Lang signs up with a patrol team, only...

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