Proletarian revolutions might not generally be triggered by romantic desires, but in Julian Radlmaier’s comically absurd Self-criticism of a Bourgeois Dog, it doesn’t seem such a far-fetched proposition. The film starts with the story of the dog from the title, who in a frame narrative explains how he came to be transformed from an unemployed communist filmmaker into a canine with a philosophical bent.
Unable to finance his new project, young Berlin-based director Julian tells foreign exchange student Camille that his job in the countryside is research for an upcoming film. When Camille offers to help, he is forced to uphold the lie. The plantation isn’t the proletarian idyll he had hoped for, but fortunately the reincarnation of Francis of Assisi provides spiritual insight and a new aim in life.
Radlmaier’s theatrical style is clearly inspired by the films of Werner Schroeter (whose assistant he once was), but he adds a big nod to Rosselini and Neorealism.