Wes Anderson’s stop-animation fable ‘Isle of Dogs’ is whimsical, funny, dark, and touching, but it also serves as a biting metaphor on today’s political landscape. It’s an allegory on tyrannical regimes and prejudice. Yes, it is a lovely story of a young boy in search of his beloved dog, who has been sent into exile along will all the other dogs in the fictional Japanese city of Megasaki, with the aid of five other exiled dogs. But there’s so much more in the oftentimes funny and yet gritty (and even disturbing) movie.
In the futuristic setting of Megasaki, Japan, an outbreak of dog flu and snout fever has made all the dogs of the city more aggressive. Mayor Kobayashi orders a decree to send all the dogs to Trash Island to quarantine all the dogs, including Spots, the guard dog of the mayor’s ward, Atari.
Atari hijacks a small airplane to fly to the isle of dogs to look for Spots and with the aid of Chief, a stray dog, and his pack of formerly domesticated dogs, they go on a journey to reunite Atari with his best friend in the dangerous and wild Isle of Dogs.
While in mainland Megasaki, student activists launch protests against the mayor’s decree and a conspiracy is uncovered that a cure of dog flu has been developed but the mayor refuses to treat the dogs and instead pushes forward with a plan to eradicate them from Megasaki forever.
Like many of Wes Anderson’s scripts, ‘Isle of Dogs’ is smart and clever, enhancing very human qualities in all of his characters, most especially from his dog characters. All the voice acting is superbly done from a cast that includes Bryan Cranston, Edward Norton, Scarlett Johansson, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton, Bill Murray, Greta Gerwig, and a whole lot more.
Interestingly enough, Wes Anderson allows for the dogs to speak in English but all the human Japanese characters speak in their native tongues, with cleverly used translators giving us an English translation that organically happens within the story.
And while the story of Atari, Chief, and Spots is a lovely little tale about friendship, tenderness, and affection between friends (or literally, between man and dog), the film has far larger themes that hangs ominously over it.
Mayor Kobayashi’s politicking is very akin to how we understand corrupt governments operate to exercise control. It’s sinister, underhanded, and immoral using their political power to ensure they get what they want. They block possible solutions from coming into the public, manipulating the media and creating falsehoods to incite the people’s anger towards where these politicians want it directed to, and will even resort of house arresting ‘radicals’ and ‘traitors,’ whose only crime was to go against their regime.
There are very obvious reflections in ‘Isle of Dogs’ that reflect America’s immigration issues, illegal deportation, and racism.
The cultural divide that Wes Anderson creates between the Japanese characters is deliberate in a way that it truly makes them The Other without removing their agency. But by doing so, ‘Isle of Dogs’ becomes a fable about how language and even being of another species — man and dog — is no reason to not love each other and take care of each other.
Despite the thrilling conspiracy plot line or the adventure of the pack of dogs and Atari, or dynamic relationship that is explore between Chief and Atari, the film manages to become a reminder about evil governments trying to separate and divide us as one race. It teaches us to love one another, love all living things as we are all invariably connected.
It’s hilarious, thrilling, suspenseful, sad, and touching all at the same time, in a way that only Wes Anderson can execute.
My Rating:
