Movie Breakdown: Stray (Noah)

Pre-Screening Stance:

A fly-on-the-wall documentary about strays in Turkey? I am at once grinning from ear-to-ear and also cringing because I’m already worried about these cute puppies getting enough to eat.

Post-Screening Ramble:

There’s a real danger in making animal documentaries that the director will – through the wonders of cinema – press human qualities on to their subjects. That the complicated and complex social strata of animal existence will be turned into a naturalistic, live-action Disney documentary. First time feature documentarian Elizabeth Lo does not have this problem. Stray follows a street dog named Zeynit in Istanbul as she wanders the streets, interacts with other dogs and humans, scrounges for food, gets in fights – generally as she lives her life. Lo isn’t trying to provide any narrative push to Zeynit’s existence, and she doesn’t need to. Watching this dog through Lo’s lens is fascinating, as if this secret world of pooches has suddenly had the blanket torn off and we are all now privy to the emotional spectrum seemingly every dog in Turkey has. Eventually, without any obvious push from the director, you start to understand Zeynit’s character and as she moves through the world you understand her reactions and, strangely enough, her choices. It’s remarkably well done. You are invested in this dog’s life, worried about what might become of her, pissed off when she gets beaten up by another pack of pooches. Add to this Lo’s ability to weave in, briefly, the lives of a group of homeless, Syrian immigrants and their connection with the dogs and this becomes a rich portrait of a certain section of Turkish society you might not regularly get to see.

One Last Thought:

This movie was very tense for me. Zeynit is crossing the street! Zeynit is going near the mean dogs! Zeynit is in a crowded place and some of the people are looking at her skeptically! My heart was pounding.