Water Dogs (2014)
Cast: Bob Jaffe, Robby Johnson, Naci Baybura
Director: Matthew Slamowitz
Country: USA
Genre: Drama | Short
Editor’s Notes: Water Dogs had its West Coast Premiere at the Catalina Film Festival in California on September 25th.
Golden sunlight spills onto the multihued grey surfaces of New York, lending secret treasures to the eyes of its “productive” inhabitants while they scurry from one day to the next without ever really being mentally present. Each apathetic participant in life’s games of chance operates without consideration given to their surroundings. Fueled by the anxiety of what lies ahead and haunted by the mistakes of the past they live in a constant state of temporal dissonance, only one misstep from homelessness and the harsh realization that a concrete mattress demands persistent and inescapable cognizance. Some lack the luxury of disconnection from their environment as the financial misfortunes of a nation in disrepair claim its daily casualties. Some that have already lost the game purse their lips around a bottle in a desperate attempt to dissolve the urgency that comes with being one of society’s unfortunate offspring, silently wishing for a modicum of empathy and luck in wells that have dried up ages ago.
Matthew Slamowitz is one of the few unwearied souls that still believes in possibilities and the basic humanity that resides in everyone.
Matthew Slamowitz is one of the few unwearied souls that still believes in possibilities and the basic humanity that resides in everyone. In his new short film Water Dogs, he constructs a slightly idiosyncratic and charming world where empathy is still in short supply but good luck can fall upon the unfortunate and create opportunities for those prepared to grasp them. We enter Slamowitz’s world through a concrete archway in Central Park, an entanglement of green and grey filmed with a softness that removes the hard edges from the world and makes anything possible. We bypass a cellist pouring culture into the world with each pull of the bow to find a homeless man setting up shop to refill his cup and bottle, the productive world passing with silent contempt, some throwing money and others disdainful looks but both with equal apathy. A tiny stroke of luck, a little serendipity, a few misunderstandings, a hungry belly, and the misfortune of a hot dog vendor is all it takes to set the wheels of change in motion, and while claiming the meal that was rightfully his the accidental stand-in slowly becomes the hottest attraction in town.
It exists in a universe slightly out of synch from our own where poor souls still fall upon misfortune but serendipity can alter the course of a person’s life without the insurmountable bureaucratic obstacles that tend to keep people exactly where they are.
Water Dogs is a charming inner city fable that reminds us that we all may be a few missteps away from the gutter, but given the right circumstances and a bit of good luck (and perhaps a few egregious health code violations) anyone has the potential to succeed. Its lovely cinematography removes the hard edges from the world and fills each frame with soft and unassuming beauty, finding magic hour miracles and impressionistic vistas of vegetation and stone in the heart of New York City. It exists in a universe slightly out of synch from our own where poor souls still fall upon misfortune but serendipity can alter the course of a person’s life without the insurmountable bureaucratic obstacles that tend to keep people exactly where they are.
Water Dogs is a charming inner city fable that reminds us that we all may be a few missteps away from the gutter, but given the right circumstances and a bit of good luck (and perhaps a few egregious health code violations) anyone has the potential to succeed. Its lovely cinematography removes the hard edges from the world and fills each frame with soft and unassuming beauty, finding magic hour miracles and impressionistic vistas of vegetation and stone in the heart of New York City.
