Holy Crap!* "White God"

A revenge flick to end all revenge flicks, this mega genre mashup is a spectacle in every sense of the word. Yet it is also an old-fashioned heartbreaking tale of a girl and her dog, separated but hopeful of one day reuniting.

Her parents divorced, pouty adolescent Lili (Zsofia Psotta) gets dumped in the care of her dad while her mom bounds off to Australia for a three-month adventure. After a neighbor calls Animal Services on Lili's dog, Dad, like most fathers from rural Montana or behind the Iron Curtain, ditches the dog on the street, to the horror of Lili.

Thus begins the adventure of Hagen the dog, who will cycle through familiar horrors out on his own, including, predictably, a dog-fighting ring. The scenes of Hagen alternate with scenes of Lili, whose main gigs are playing trumpet in the school band and navigating the pitfalls of growing up. As Hagen is turned into a killing machine, Lili is hardened, too, at the hands of her bitter father and overbearing music teacher.

Hungarian director Kornel Mundruczo exhibits masterful control of a wild story (sometimes involving the choreography of more than a hundred dogs at a time), propelling the narrative forward while gobbling up and spitting out ideas from the history of movies. These are the predecessors that his spectacle brought to mind:

"Benji." "Planet of the Apes." "Rocky." "Rambo." "Amores Perros." "Starsky & Hutch." "101 Dalmatians." "Mad Max." "I Am Legend." "My So-Called Life." "Whiplash." "Ratatouille." "Cinderella." "The Great Escape." "The Wizard of Oz." "The Terminator." "West Side Story." "Lassie." "The Birds."

It's a swirling homage to nearly every genre you can imagine. As Mundruczo spins more and more plates, it's amazing that not one falls and shatters.

Psotta is a heart-tugger, swooning after an older boy, and finding tender notes from her trumpet. Hagen (played by a pair of mixed-breeds) displays incredible acting chops. In his early days on the streets he befriends a smaller Jack Russell like the one from "The Artist," and they bound about like buddy cops or mischievous hoodlums. When Hagen descends into the horrors of the dog-fighting world, it's really too much to take as a viewer. About a half hour into the film I considered bailing out (I couldn't fast-forward like I did with "Amores Perros"); but once the film emerges from that maelstrom, it rockets forward, challenging you to keep up.

Suddenly it's a revenge allegory, as Hagen meets up with a growing pack of wild dogs. There is a grand escape from a pound. Bad guys pay for their sins. Tension builds and blood spills, and all the while we hold out hope that Lili and Hagen will be reunited. Except that we're afraid he'll tear her (or her father) to shreds.

When they finally do meet up, it's magic -- with a touch of magical realism.With a spell-binding final shot that will freeze you in your seat.

At the end, my initial fears of regretting these two hours were an ancient memory, replaced by joy and wonder. What has Mundruczo pulled off here? A measured delirium. It is, in turns, funny, and touching, and odd, and disturbing. It's nearly impossible to convey in words how this improbable story comes together like a simple story and an epic saga.

GRADE: A-minus

* - Holy Crap is an occasional series about unique films, cutting a wide swath from brilliant to awful. Check out previous entries here and here and here and here and here.