Fest Track On Sirk TV Film Review: DODO [Cannes Film Festival 2022]
The intention of certain films is to show a day in the life and at other times to show the absurdity of human behavior. "Dodo" [Cannes Premiere] tries to do too much of both and ends up with a film that is both baroque but also too aware of itself. It moves toward wallowing in its own melodrama though the texture of the story is more like a telenovela. The dreams and aspirations of the family it follows are thrown into a whirlpool when a dodo (long since exitinct) stumbles onto their lawn. The bird is obviously a metaphor for a bunch of other things but it is overwrought despite its inherent irony and humor. The shenanigans especially involving a father and son, a lost youth and a mother/actress' need to fix things when her own family is discombobulated seem empty and pathe. Only the plight of the daughter has a richness especially when she interacts with a younger would-be sibling as a darkness faces her. The stakes have a context of the real for her while the rest seems swirled up in the ether. Director Panos H. Koutras has his connotations and quirks of what the film speaks to but mostly it is about good intentions but missed connections.
People want to feel safe but going about their lives but many times they lie to themselves and by extension to others who might know better than they do. The stereotypes per se play through with only one really having a sense of self and individuality in Tina. Her musical interlude on the lawn is both wistful and telling. Even though other characters have glimpses, she is the only one that seems to understand how to move with the flow while all the others go screaming around like the dodo. Most of the laughs by irony only come from the dodo because he is the only one that can see things clearly. The overarching theme Louthras tries to interconnect with "Alice In Wonderland" though its importance in the bigger mise en scene is tertiary. The father/would be son context as well as his lover (who has her own quirks) simply sees to muddle the plot. Almodovar does these kinds of films in a similar style but the dialogue tends to be more pointed and less obvious, the takedowns snarky but tender. And even then the drama is usually highlighted by a different musical texture. "Dodo" tries and is entertaining enough at points but not enough to create either feeling, sorrow or even pity for any of the characters involved. C
By Tim Wassberg
