Red Dog is a documentary about a group of people who worked at the famous Oklahoma City strip club Red Dog in the 80's, as told primarily through the perspective of dancer Kim and her son Luke who co-made the feature who was born and spent his early childhood in and around the club.
Virtually all the interview subjects are fascinating characters- candid, insightful, unapologetic about their lives but not shirking responsibility for some of the more wild behavior or down playing it. It's remarkably honest, paints a vivid compelling picture of a time and place and set of circumstances, and has incredible emotional depth and resonance.
The composition is relatively straightforward with documentary mainstays- talking head interviews, extensive use of personal photographs and home movies, as well as brief snippets of the current landscape, but they also include small effective animated sequences reenacting some of the stories told by the subjects. Taken together it really works and even if the construction is somewhat standard it feels fresh because of the unique characters, their honesty, and their perspective. They have clearly lived lives, they have clearly grown, survived, endured. And all the life gives them a magnetic strength not to mention a cutting humor.
A delightful, moving surprise.
Currently streaming on Hulu.
See It.
No comments:
Post a Comment