Of all the movies screening in Venice, the one that probably had its filmmakers waiting more nervously than others for the press reaction after the first press screening was Luc Besson’s Dogman. Labelled by the media as the director’s “comeback” film, the dark thriller — starring Caleb Landry Jones (and roughly 70 dogs) —is his first feature behind the camera since 2019’s Anna and the first after his career took a detour following rape accusations, which last year were cleared by a French judge. Not that Besson sees Dogman that way.
“You don’t think like this,” he told THR when asked if Dogman was his comeback movie, claiming that he merely keeps working in the hope that what he writes is good enough to keep getting made into films.
“It’s really hard when you get to 60, because you never know your juice is over. A sport guys knows — he has a Chronometer. But with an artist, you never know,” he said. “I never want to do one film too much and have people say ‘oh, he was great before.’ So you try to figure out if you still have things to say, and, for now, I’m ok. So maybe I have one or two more.”
Dogman may hit some of the same action and comedy beats from Besson’s previous features, but many have noted how the film — at least relating to Landry Jones’ character — pushes the director into darker, more emotional territories, something he said was a result as growing as a filmmaker.
“My first movie I made when I was 19 and now I’m 63, so it’s taken me 50 years to get the focus, and I think I can express myself a little better and maybe I know what I want to say a little better, so it’s just a normal evolution. But I try to be more interesting. But to me it’s not dark at all, it’s very colourful.”
In nearly 50 years of filmmaking, Dogman also marks Besson’s first film bowing in competition in a major festival.
“We’re very flattered, and the competition this year is amazing. It’s a year where you can be happy to lose, because they’re all good,” he said.
While Besson’s off-screen concerns may have dominated much of the headlines in recent years, he claims he’s not concerned whether or not these might have an impact of Dogman’s success. “It’s not my problem. I’m here to paint — I do my painting,” he said.
Given the reception Dogman received from both sets of press screenings ahead of its premiere on Thursday and the rapturous applause Besson was given at the press conference (where he notes two journalists couldn’t even ask questions “because they were crying”), even if he doesn’t view the film as his comeback, it does seem the audience, in Venice at least, is very willing to see more films from the director. And despite 2017’s hugely ambitious Valerian being considered a major box office flop, one could see him return to big-budget sci-fi.
“I would love to do another movie in space,” he said. “Give me $200 million and I’m there.”
Alex Ritman
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