Perhaps the best way to
wrap one’s mind around the weirdness of Pound
is to accept that the counterculture era of the late ’60s and early ’70s was a
time of experimentation fueled by sociopolitical dissatisfaction. Seen in that
light, the wild central notion of Pound
makes a twisted kind of sense—by employing an ethnically diverse group of human
actors to portray dogs who occupy a large cage while awaiting adoption or
euthanasia, writer-director Robert Downey Sr. makes an oblique statement about
the way society discards unwanted citizens. All these characters want is the
right to run free—and, of course, to get laid, since Downey devotes a fair
amount of screen time to canine carnality. Based on Downey’s 1961 play The Comeuppance, this picture is far too
avant-garde and vulgar to “work” in any conventional sense. It’s a hip
statement for hip audiences. Considered on its own bizarre and satirical terms,
however, the movie has gravitas, integrity, and purpose.
After a dog is
abandoned outside a New York City animal shelter, the matron on duty transports
the animal to a large holding pen filled with other canines. Then, with a brisk
cut, Downey replaces the dogs with human actors, many of whom have obvious
visual signifiers relating to the dogs they represent. Boxer (Stan Gottleib)
wears a pugilist’s robe and trunks. Greyound (Antonio Fargas) wears a track
suit, since he’s a racing animal. The sole feline in the bunch, Siamese Cat
(Ching Yeh), is depicted as an Asian man with a long beard. And so on. Once he establishes the contrivance of humans-as-animals, Downey begins a sort of
existential melodrama, with the animals lamenting their certain doom while rhapsodizing
about the lives they enjoyed before imprisonment. In a sequence that
sympathetic viewers undoubtedly find poignant, a Puppy (played by the
director’s five-year-old son, future movie star Robert Downey Jr., in his
screen debut) arrives at the pound and is adopted almost immediately because of
his cuteness.
The interplay among the dogs touches on themes pertaining to
hippie culture, race relations, and other progressive concerns. There’s also an
element of bedroom farce, related to the unlikely presence in the pound of a
penguin. (Don’t ask.) Downey hits certain satirical targets more squarely than
others, and his penchant for profanity-strewn dialogue gives the film an
unhelpful quality of puerility. (The abundance of sex talk, as well as
discreetly filmed sex acts, earned the picture an X rating.) Every so often, Downey’s insouciance gains focus, as in musical montages set to fierce
rock tunes featuring with-it lyrics (e.g., “So I went for a bummer in the
pound/on the baddest shit I ever found”).
Yet the whole enterprise is acted and
filmed with great precision, so Pound
never spirals into random weirdness; quite to the contrary, the film is a
textbook example of deliberate
weirdness. It is also, allegedly, a comedy, though the combination of grim
subject matter and strange presentation will render the experience of Pound quite humorless for some viewers,
this one included. A challenge for those who can’t groove with the central joke
and presumably a wicked delight for those who can, Pound is arguably Downey’s most audacious movie, though he gained
wider attention for the racially themed Putney
Swope (1969) and the religiously themed Greaser’s
Palace (1972).
Pound:
FREAKY
1 comment:
This deliciously odd, avant garde 70s film directed by Robert Downey Sr. (yes, Junior's Dad) is certainly worth a serious watch, given the favorable reviews and the talents of Mr. Downey, Sr., not to mention the ability to see the now-famous son in his first film role at age 5; "adorable" doesn't begin to describe him as a puppy. But unfortunately, due to the sometimes perverse legal machinations of the movie industry, which at times conspire to prevent the citizenry from access to great cinematic works of our most creative artists (the antithesis of the intent of the copyright law), POUND is nowhere to be found -- not on cable, not on DVD, not in a single art house theatre screen anywhere in the country, which has to be considered some sort of Hollywood conspiracy considering how many streaming platforms there are, all thirsty for content and any number art house curators who would jump at the chance to book this title. And hell...I'd by the DVD! It really is a shame because Downey's POUND it is as good as any of his other well-received titles like PUTNEY SWOPE and GREASER'S PALACE.
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