Manila (CNN Philippines Life) — Earlier this year, we had the tear-jerking canine drama “A Dog’s Purpose,” which, though it received mixed reviews, proved at the box office that there will always be an audience for films with animals.
Films with animals are notoriously difficult to make, simply because no matter how well-trained the creature is, it’ll always do what it wants. Even a film like “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” supposedly used nine different cats to play Holly Golightly’s nameless feline friend.
Still, when they’re done well, these films are a wonder to watch because of the very real stories they tell about our animal friends and the mysterious ways they change our lives.
Bringing Up Baby (1938)
This one doesn’t have your traditional pet, but it formed the mold for many romantic comedies with animals that followed. Howard Hawks’ “Bringing Up Baby” flopped upon release, but developed a following in the years after.
The films tells the story of Dr. David Huxley (Cary Grant) and Susan Vance (Katharine Hepburn) as they struggle to raise a tame leopard named Baby. It’s a classic hare-brained screwball comedy complete with an unexpected arrest, a romantic scene atop a museum dinosaur, and a leopard switcheroo.
Throughout, Hepburn and Grant offer their characteristic goofy charm, and Baby (played by a leopard named Nissa) makes for an amusing third in their madcap screwball romance.
Au hasard Balthazar (1966)
Frequently listed as one of the greatest films of all time, Robert Bresson’s “Au hazard Balthazar” follows the life of a farm girl (Anne Wiazemsky) and a donkey and latter’s experiences of human nature as he’s passed from owner to owner, eventually finding his way back to the girl.
Balthazar the donkey makes for a blank slate for viewers to experience the extremes of cruelty and kindness in humanity. Inspired by Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s “The Idiot,” Bresson crafted the donkey’s life based on the seven deadly sins.
Remembered best for Bresson’s subtly affecting narrative and Ghislain Cloquet’s astonishing black and white cinematography, “Au hazard Balthazar” is a testament to the way animals in cinema (and real life) can reveal so much about humanity.
The Aristocats (1970)
This classic animated Disney cat caper was the last film approved for production by Walt Disney himself. Nearly half a century later, “The Aristocats” still makes for a fun ride through Paris in 1910 with a family of cats.
In the story, a butler plots to get rid of his employer’s cats — Duchess (Eva Gabor) and her kittens Marie, Berlioz and Toulouse — after she leaves her fortune to them in her will. With the help of a stray tomcat Thomas O’Malley (Phil Harris), they must find their way back to their owner, Madame Adelaide Bonfamille.
A celebration of the elegance and playfulness of our feline friends, it’s a film that proves that, indeed, “Ev’rybody Wants To Be A Cat.”
My Dog Skip (2000)
This Jay Russell drama stars a young Frankie Muniz as a lonely nine-year-old boy in the 1940s named Willie Morris, whose mother (Diane Lane) buys him a dog after his only friend gets drafted into the army to fight in World War II.
What follows is a coming-of-age story where Skipper the dog helps Willie overcome his social isolation. If you’ve ever had a dog, you’ll notice people have an easier time talking to you. Thanks to Skipper, Willie makes a new set of friends and even gets a girlfriend.
While it’s meant to be a family film, “My Dog Skip” also offers an unflinching portrayal of its milieu — a time when racial segregation was still firmly in place and American communities struggled to care for soldiers coming home from the war with PTSD.
Marley & Me (2008)
Directed by David Frankel based on the book by John Grogan, “Marley & Me” follows the adventures of John (Owen Wilson) and Jenny Grogan (Jennifer Aniston) with a golden retriever named Marley.
Marley tests everyone’s patience throughout the film, but eventually becomes a fixture in the family’s lives. It’s Marley who observes all of their milestones over the course of his life.
The simplicity of “Marley & Me” shows the ways that a dog becomes part of a family, how it’s present through your times of jubilation and your times of struggle. It’s the story of falling in love with an animal because it needs you, and how soon enough you realize you need it, too.
Bwakaw (2012)
In Jun Lana’s 2012 Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival entry “Bwakaw,” Rene (Eddie Garcia) is a gay man in his 70s, who spends his days alone and dejected at home, without any companion but a stray dog named Bwakaw.
While Rene has lost his will to live, to the point of keeping all his possessions in storage, ready to be bequeathed to his few friends upon his death, Bwakaw’s presence gives him a new lease on life and a better appreciation for people around him.
A fascinating black comedy, “Bwakaw” makes powerful observations on mortality, sexuality, and the way a dog’s presence transcends human loneliness.
White God (2014)
If you’ve ever wondered what a hostile takeover of a city looks like when it’s perpetrated by a pack of dogs, look no further than Kundrél Mundruczó’s “White God.”
The Hungarian film follows a mixed-breed dog named Hagen and his relationship with a young girl named Lili (Zsófia Psotta) who must give him up after the city imposes a “mongrel fine” which her father refuses to pay.
The film follows a magnificent arc, dragging you through grim scenes of animal abuse, heartbreaking moments between Lili and Hagen, then ultimately the profound satisfaction when the dogs take their revenge on their abusers.
