A cardiac surgeon trying to come to terms with the death of his wife meets a dominatrix and finds consolation in BDSM in a Finnish film that mixes serious drama with black comedy.
The idyllic lakeside life of Juha—showing a fish he caught to his daughter, watching her weave flowers into her mother’s hair—comes to an abrupt end with the sudden death of his beloved wife. Overcome with grief, he struggles with life without her, until his chance encounter with Mona, a dominatrix who introduces him to asphyxiation and brings a vision of his late wife before his eyes. Eager to repeat the experience, Juha becomes Mona’s regular client and discovers new pleasures in submission and humiliation.
Dogs Don't Wear Pants was a hit in the Directors' Fortnight section at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival. Exploring loss, pain, and the darker sides of sexuality, Jukka-Pekka Valkeapää’s picture is nevertheless moving and occasionally very funny. “If you look at The Apartment by Billy Wilder, it’s about suicide, depression, disappointment, and not being loved. And still, it’s funny,” the filmmaker explains. “I hope there is a bit of Billy Wilder somewhere in my movie.”
Dogs Don't Wear Pants
Jukka-Pekka Valkeapää
Finland, Latvia, 2019. 105 min. 18+