My Life as a Dog

In Brief: Despite the controversy surrounding director Lasse Hallström's most recent film (A Dog's Purpose) and my personal disdain for the practices employed on set, I still have a soft-spot in my heart for My Life as a Dog (1985). The director's first mainstream success outside of Europe — unless you count ABBA: The Movie — My Life as a Dog is replete with the sort of quirky characters and improbable storylines that would come to define European cinema in the following decades. So why do I like this tale of a precocious young boy from a struggling single-parent household who's sent to live with his aunt and uncle when he begins to identify a little too closely with Laika, the cosmonaut dog? In short, I'm not quite sure. It harbors a lot of qualities that have left me jaded over the years, but perhaps this was one of the earliest examples (though far from the last) of the oddball import comedy to leave its mark on my moviegoing mind. Regardless, it's a warmhearted little film that was well-received on its release and holds up today, my current thoughts on Hallström not withstanding. Classic World Cinema by Courtyard Gallery will present My Life as a Dog on Friday, Feb. 10, at 8 p.m. at Flood Gallery Fine Art Center, 2160 Hwy 70, Swannanoa.