Oct 17 2012
Bwakaw The Barking Dog
Bwakaw is a heartbreaking tale about an old man and his dog. Rene’s dog, Bwakaw, serves as the classic symbol of man’s best friend, and Bwakaw’s illness symbolizes the evolution of Rene. Bwakaw’s terminal illness changes Rene from a bitter old man into a tender and caring individual. Rene shows his tender side by caring for his best friend by taking her to the vet several times, allowing her to sleep on his bed, and spending most of his pension on her. Change is also seen in Rene after he is brought together with Sol, a tricycle driver, through Bwakaw’s illness. Rene realizes that he will have no one to share his life with after Bwakaw dies and tries to remedy his sorrows by falling in love with Sol. This finally allows Rene to accept the fact that he is a homosexual. The fear of loneliness also brings about this change in Rene because before taking Bwakaw for granted, Rene could not accept who he really was. Rene tries to reverse time by getting his hair dyed, and he tries to woo his companion by overpaying him and making him dinner. Despite the humor in this film, loneliness is no laughing matter, and Lana depicts this theme by using Rene’s life as an example.
Lana’s thematic approach uses comedy to literally make death a laughing matter. Rene’s loneliness, regrets, and old age allows him to embrace death. Rene turns death into a job by constantly changing his will, buying a casket years in advance , and having his personal possessions already packaged in boxes. Lana tries to show his audience that living with regrets is no way to live life. But after Bwakaw’s death, Rene starts to live life without regrets by unpackaging his boxes full of his worldly possessions.
Bwakaw’s plot might be predictable at times, but I would highly recommend it to anyone that would like to see a film with highly original concepts. Lana does a great job of blending the elements of comedy and drama together to create a dramedy. His ability to do this makes him an Auteur. His signature stylistic approach has the audience laughing instead of crying at serious moments, but still manages to capture the serious moments as well. Lana pulled this off quite well, despite being his first film. One thing that I noticed about the film was the stunning quality of cinematography which made the film look life-like. Bwakaw might be a little slow at the beginning, but the plot grows on you towards the end.
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