The boy and his dog

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Movie
German title The boy and his dog
Original title A Boy and His Dog
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1975
length 91 minutes
Age rating FSK 16
Rod
Director LQ Jones
script Harlan Ellison
L. Q. Jones
production LQ Jones
Alvy Moore
music Tim McIntire
camera John Arthur Morrill
cut Scott Conrad
occupation

A Boy and His Dog is a science fiction - film by LQ Jones from 1975, based on the same name, published in 1969 short story by Harlan Ellison . The alternative title is A Boy and His Dog - In der Macht der Unterirdischen , the German DVD title is Apocalypse 2024 - A Boy and His Dog . The film was released on video in Germany in 1984.

background

The backstory takes place in an alternate timeline ; in 2024, 17 years after the fourth world war between the Eastern and Western blocs . Before this, the Cold War and World War III occurred from June 1950 to March 1983 and ended with the Vatican Peace Treaty of 1983. The Fourth World War - a nuclear war - occurred in 2007 and lasted just five days, just as long as all nuclear weapons were fired were. This was responsible for the nuclear holocaust .

action

The film is set in the completely devastated area of Phoenix, Arizona . The merciless law of the fittest prevails. The people, organized in loose communities, feed on canned food excavated from the ground, which they also use as a means of payment. In addition to the ubiquitous food shortages, there is also an extreme shortage of women. The main character "Vic" is a rude 18-year-old boy who, with his old dog "Blood", is a so-called "loner" on the constant search for women to satisfy his sexual needs. Blood, who has a special talent for tracking down women, is of great help to him. In addition to this gift, Blood also has the ability to talk to Vic ( telepathically ) due to a mutation .

At the beginning of the film, the two of them experience a series of little adventures, in which they are repeatedly observed by several strangers without noticing it. During their observations, they talk about Vic being a suitable candidate for their plans and eventually agree to lay bait for him.

When Vic and Blood come to one of the makeshift towns after a successful canned raid to have a good night with "movies" and popcorn, Blood tracks down a woman there who eventually follows Vic to rape her. The woman went into an underground, totally devastated school building. Vic initially hesitates to follow her there, because so-called "yelps" live in the underground buildings, of whom he is afraid. Yowlers, who cannot be seen directly in the entire film, are green, glowing beings whose touch is fatal and who utter a terrifying howl. Finally Vic gives a jerk, follows the woman into the building, tracks her down and forces her to undress. As he is about to attack her, a gang of men emerges who are also after the woman. A wild fight ensues, from which Vic and Blood finally emerge victorious, as they pretend to the others that there are yowls, whereupon the men vanish in panic.

Suddenly Jauler actually appears and Vic, Blood and the woman hide in an old boiler. The woman, whose name is "Quilla June", now gives herself to Vic voluntarily and finally tries to persuade him to go with her into the world of the subterranean in order to start a life together. The subterranean is a small civilization, with no shortage of food or women, but which is known for the fact that no one who ventured there has ever returned. When Vic suggests to Blood that he wants to follow Quilla June into the underworld, the latter advises him against it, but he cannot hold Vic back. Vic goes back to Quilla, who suddenly knocks him unconscious with her flashlight and escapes. When Vic regains consciousness, he finds Quilla's access card, with which the lock to the underworld can be opened and, against Blood's will, decides to follow her. He promises Blood to return to him and is on his way. Blood, in turn, promises Vic to wait for him at the lock.

After climbing and walking through huge underground factory complexes for quite a while, Vic finally reaches the underworld. As soon as he arrives, he is knocked down by a stranger and loses consciousness. When he comes to, he finds himself in a colorful, loud scene reminiscent of a circus, where he is watched by numerous spectators and roughly washed in a tub by a strong, constantly grinning man with a mustache. All bystanders and also the sturdy man are made up like circus clowns all white with red cheeks. All persons wear typical American farmer's clothing of the 1920s and 1930s (straw hat, red checked shirts, blue dungarees), but are dressed unnaturally clean and correctly. There is a loud, lively atmosphere. Banal life advice and everyday wisdom, formulated by the so-called “committee”, are announced over loudspeakers.

A little later you see Vic, being roughly held by the big strong man, being led through a crowded festival with a marching band and many exuberant guests. He's now also wearing farmer's clothes, but he's not made up. The festival takes place in a green park with no sun. Here, too, everything is very colorful and flashy. All people are made up like clowns and here too the loudspeakers with the advice and rules of the "committee" can be heard everywhere. Vic is hardly or not at all noticed by the other people who are busy with eating and celebrating.

In the next scene you can see the committee meeting in a church, with calm organ music playing in the background. While the members of the three-person committee are discussing construction plans for a building, they also impose death sentences on members of the community who have not obeyed the rules. Quilla June appears and demands from the merciless Lew, the leader of the committee, the promised membership in the committee for the fulfillment of her service as decoy for Vic. Lew and the others put her off, however, and she has to leave without having achieved anything. In front of the door, she swears revenge against a friend for this disappointment. Shortly afterwards, Vic is also brought before the committee. He is told that it is the law of the community that every 15 years a man is selected from the surface who is then lured into the underworld to serve as a sperm donor to replenish the gene pool, and that Quilla June had the job to lure him down. Vic, who is initially stubborn, is completely enthusiastic when he learns of the reason for his presence in the underworld and immediately agrees.

But his activity as a sperm donor looks different than he had imagined. He is tied up in a makeshift operating room, and while a preacher “marries” him pro forma to a woman who comes up to his bed, semen is taken from him by means of a machine, which is then to be used to fertilize the woman. Finally, it is Quilla June's turn. She knocks down the preacher and doctor performing the ceremony and frees Vic. She asks him to help her clear the committee and the two flee.

Meanwhile, the committee pronounces death sentences against all those involved in the "coup", which are immediately carried out by "Michael", the strong, always grinning man. The people who are following the proclamation and execution just look on, bored. When Michael discovers Vic and Quilla June, he tries to kill them too. Vic tries to shoot him, but does not succeed at first. Ultimately, however, he manages to bring him down with the rifle, and you can see that Michael is not a person, but an android . Vic and Quilla eventually leave the underworld, and everything stays the same there.

Back at the entrance lock, Vic and Quilla Blood find Blood close to death. The dog is very weak from hunger and urgently needs food. Quilla tries to persuade Vic to leave the dog behind, since he cannot be saved anyway. She promises him a wonderful future together and that she would do anything for him. You can see Vic come up with an idea.

In the final scene you can see a burned campfire. Blood wears pieces of Quilla's clothes as a bandage, and from their conversation it becomes clear that Vic killed Quilla to save Blood from starvation. He apologizes by saying that she offered him that she would do anything for him and that he couldn't help it if she had developed such feelings for him. The two laugh and leave to continue their usual lives.

reception

Roger Ebert described the film in the Chicago Sun-Times of March 30, 1976 as "weird" ("weird" in the original sound) and "unconventional" ("offbeat"). Luke Y. Thompson praised the concept and the ending of the film in the New Times , which in his opinion was "one of the all-time great movie endings".

The film is one of the inspirations of the Fallout game series .

Awards

The film was the winner of the Hugo Awards in 1976. It was nominated for the 1976 Nebula Award . Don Johnson won the Saturn Award for Best Actor from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films in 1974/1975 ; the film was nominated for the same award for Best SF Film.

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