Movie Thoughts: The Tibetan Dog (2011)

• Released: June 6, 2011
  
• Directed by: Masayuki Kojima
• Running time: 1h 35min
• Rating 4/5

Synopsis

A boy named Tenzin moves to Tibet to live with his father after his mother's passing. Here, he learns about the local culture and befriends a wild Tibetan mastiff named Duoji. But when local bandits start believing that the dog is a monster and is killing people, Tenzin will have to find a way to keep his pet safe.

My Thoughts

I have heard of this movie years ago and then completely forgot it existed. Until for whatever reason it popped back into my head a few days ago. So one watch later and boy, I gotta say this is a good one.

It's not perfect or anything but if you want yourself an emotional and action-packed anime film about the friendship between a boy and his dog, here you go. It's definitely worth a watch. The animation is really good, the friendship between Tenzin and Duoji feels genuine and heartfelt and you just want them both to succeed so badly.

The main villain, the leader of a group of bandits, is also such an asshole but in a good "this villain really works" way. He's a horrible person but does care about his brother who betrayed him, but he's also rotten to the core. Even after he notices that Duoji isn't the killer and instead it's a monster he still wants to kill the dog. What an asshat. And it gets him killed in the end. Good.

The monster also had a lot of good buildup and it's final reveal was utterly terrifying. I was really expecting it to be some kind of wild animal with a logical explanation in the end (another dog gone rogue, or a lion or bear) but nope it actually is a demonic monster and Duoji manages to kill it. What a badass dog.

And then of course there's the super emotional ending where Duoji is heavily injured and uses the last of his strength to save Tenzin from an avalanche. What a good boy. The ending is just super bittersweet. Tenzin loses his best friend, but he also has finally found his footing at his new home and now has a good relationship with his father and the people around him. And Duoji lives on in his puppies. Just a super bittersweet ending and a good one.

If there was one thing I'd have liked to see a little more of it's the resolution of the relationship between Tenzin and his father. It's a very strained relationship throughout most of the movie, but then in the epilogue this issue is suddenly resolved but we never see all that much of a resolution to their relationship. So why they're suddenly not on bad terms anymore at the end of the movie comes a bit out of left field.

Also I am a bit sad to see that there is of course sexism in this movie, where the male dogs won't fight females. Same thing in Jack London's White Fang. It's just so stupid and dated and no, real dogs don't work like that, either. But it's a very minor point in the movie so I can forgive it.

Overall this is a beautifully animated movie with a real heart to it. It's not quite perfect but I definitely recommend it.