Hounddog
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Hounddog |
| Original title | Hounddog |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 2007 |
| length | approx. 102 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Deborah Kampmeier |
| script | Deborah Kampmeier |
| production |
Raye Dowell , Jen Gatien , Deborah Kampmeier, Terry Leonard , Lawrence Robins , Scott Franklin |
| music | Gisburg |
| camera |
Jim Denault , Edward Lachman , Stephen Thompson |
| cut | Sabine Hoffmann |
| occupation | |
| |
Hounddog is an American film drama from the year 2007 . Directed by Deborah Kampmeier , who also wrote the script and co-produced the film.
action
The film is about the difficult childhood of the twelve year old girl Lewellen, who is a big fan of Elvis Presley and also very talented at singing his songs. Mostly Lewellen is raised by her strict and godly grandmother. Lewellen's father still lives with them, whom she adores, but who often disappears for weeks and then suddenly appears again (sometimes with a new wife), or one day simply shoots her beloved dog. When her father is struck by lightning, he becomes confused and in need of care.
Lewellen's best friend is Buddy, and she spends most of the time with him. One day Lewellen learns that Elvis is coming to the provinces to give a concert and is in despair because she has no money for a ticket. So Buddy promises her to get the tickets and a short time later reports that he knows a boy who gives them tickets. Lewellen first thinks she would get the card for free, until Buddy explains to her that the deal is that she first has to sing an Elvis song and then dance naked. Reluctantly, she agrees and is overwhelmed and raped by the other boy she was supposed to get the card from.
The now traumatized Lewellen has to find out that Buddy is going to the Elvis concert with her ticket together with “Grashopper”, a girl from a rich family. On the evening of the Elvis concert, Lewellen tries to somehow see Elvis, but has to stay in front of closed doors. At the same time, her father wanders around, confused and completely bare, and finally comes across the gang of boys, which includes Buddy and Lewellen's rapist. The boys make fun of their father and beat him with billiard sticks until Lewellen comes and angrily pulls him home, where she yells at him that she hates him. Lewellen gets sick, has nightmares and vomits again and again, so that her grandmother finally prays for her recovery in bed.
Charles, a black horse breeder and snake expert with whom Lewellen is friends, had noticed that something was wrong with her and accidentally learns what happened to Lewellen when the boys argue loudly about it. Buddy believes Lewellen is about to die and that the cause is the rape, although the older boy assured him that Lewellen would not be harmed. This also makes it clear that everything was planned between Buddy and the boy. Charles then brings Lewellen to him and finally teaches her to literally sing the blues out of her soul in order to feel whole again and thus helps her with processing.
The film ends with Lewellen finding a small puppy on the roadside, which she takes with her, and that Ellen, her father's last friend and also the sister of Lewellen's mother, wants to take her with her to look after Lewellen. Lewellen tells her father that she loves him and then goes with her aunt Ellen.
Reviews
James Berardinelli wrote on ReelViews that the film failed in virtually every way and would be unknown without the rape scene. Not much happens in the first half of the film and the viewer feels bored. Later, the film stumbled from one storyline to the next - which wouldn't make a coherent whole. Dakota Fanning is undoubtedly gifted, but the film wastes her talent. The characters played by David Morse and Piper Laurie would have "exaggerated clichés" not far from a parody.
Todd McCarthy wrote in Variety magazine on January 23, 2007 that the film was an "indigestible gumbo" about southern states that got off the track after the first occasional atmospheric hour. He has poor commercial prospects.
Awards
The film took part in the Sundance Film Festival 2007 as a competition entry, whereby Deborah Kampmeier was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize.
backgrounds
Deborah Kampmeier wrote the screenplay back in 1996. The film was shot in Wilmington ( North Carolina ) and Orton Plantation (North Carolina). Its production amounted to an estimated 3.75 million US dollars . During the filming in July 2006, the rape scene caused a stir in the media.
The world premiere took place on January 22, 2007 at the Sundance Film Festival . On February 2, 2007, the film was shown at the Santa Barbara Film Festival . On September 19, 2008 it was shown in selected cinemas in the USA.
Hounddog has not yet been shown in German cinemas or released on DVD.
Web links
- Hounddog in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Hounddog at Rotten Tomatoes (English)
- Hounddog at Metacritic (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Film review by James Berardinelli , accessed September 18, 2008
- ↑ Film review by Todd McCarthy ( Memento of the original from September 27, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed September 18, 2008
- ↑ a b This and That for Hounddog , accessed September 18, 2008
- ^ Filming locations for Hounddog , accessed September 18, 2008
- ↑ Box office / business for Hounddog , accessed September 18, 2008
- ↑ Release dates for Hounddog , accessed September 18, 2008
