This Darling Life (2008)

Directed by: Angie Chen | 80 minutes | documentary

Dogs and owners are often lumped together, faithful four-legged friends who will never cheat on you and “my dog ​​has given my life meaning again” are all clichés that appear remarkably often in the media. This is also the case in ‘This Darling Life’, a documentary that shows the special bond between dog and owner in Hong Kong. This search for the mutual relationship gives an interesting premise, namely the use of dogs to focus on the personal life of their owner. . Films such as ’10 Promises to My Dog’ and ‘White Bim Black Ear’ managed to achieve an emotional impact in this way.

Bizarrely, This Darling Life does the opposite, personal dramas in which people talk about their traumatic childhood, a parent’s illness or a failed marriage are eventually linked to the dog, the animal that gives them renewed strength to carry on, one together or is the bridge between granddaughter and grandmother. Scenes that overflow with sentimentality and thus almost become a hilarious skit, which is definitely not the intention. As always, there are also a few nice scenes in the documentary. The story of a learned homeless person (with dog, of course) who is always reading is intriguing. You want to know more about this type of person, what has made a man fall so low and why does he seem to embrace his fate? But no, an ending in which the man has a dog with three puppies aims to demonstrate once again that the most beloved pet in all situations, no matter how bleak, is the proverbial light in the dark. People who start a private shelter, just have to work and also keep the kennels clean for three hours are asked why it is such a dirty place. At such a moment the emotion is real, man is capable of special things when he gives heart and soul for his dream.

The musical score is nice but monotonous, a few artistic images cannot disguise the further home video quality and at 80 minutes this documentary is just way too long. For documentaries, a guideline of 45 to 60 minutes is often used because due to the informative nature it is difficult to hold the attention for a longer period of time. Why ‘This Darling Life’ was not shortened is incomprehensible. In terms of content, a shorter playing time would be much better. Especially because there is no overarching storyline, although an attempt is made: the brother and sister’s bond with their parents returns several times, but fails to impress.

A striking phenomenon is the use of language in which Cantonese sentences are sometimes alternated with English. That Hong Kong was under English rule for a very long period may be the explanation, but this aspect seems to be gradually spreading over Asia, because many English terms are also introduced in Japanese and Korean films. Cantonese and Mandarin change very quickly anyway, the traditional tonal language seems in some parts to have already been corrupted into a language where the difference in pitches has completely disappeared.

It’s clear that this documentary was made with the best of intentions, an ode to the barking friend, but there’s no denying that the attempt failed. It could have worked as a parody, love that is so often missing in the big human world, but as a serious matter it almost hurts to look at. The ending, in which a woman tells that dogs can teach humans about forgiveness, says it all…