Hachi–A Dog’s Tale

Move over Lassie.  Hachi is here.

Lassie may be the most recognizable dog in movie history.

When I was a kid, the television program bearing the animal’s name was a weekly experience.  Lassie would overcome great odds, alert humans to potential danger, or simply provide friendship for a young boy.  Of course, movies about dogs are legion while notoriously tearjerkers.  My Dog Skip is every child’s hope.  The affection of “man’s best friend” during trying times ultimately ends graveside.  Old Yeller is a movie my daughter still refuses to watch because she does not want to cry.  Marley and Me will make you laugh until the unexpected ending forces you to look for Kleenex.    Even Turner and Hooch winsomely draws the viewer through chaotic comedy until the finale where the audience yells a collective, “Noooooo!”  But the reason these films continue to be made and we continue to watch is that we long for that kind of camaraderie.  If nothing else we want a dog excited to see us after work.

Richard Gere is exactly that man in Hachi—A Dog’s Tale. If one takes the time to watch the DVD extras Gere expresses the lengths he took to enable the movie making.  He admits weeping uncontrollably after reading the screenplay.  Gere’s passion through to project’s end radiates his personal care for the subject.  The film is based on a true story, one recounted in Japan today.  Hachi is the dog of legend, a statue erected in his honor at a Tokyo train station.

Unique contributions to life necessitate honor to Hachi through a figurine.  Lasse Hallström (What’s Eating Gilbert Grape?, Chocolat, An Unfinished Life) masterfully manipulates the action so the action does not manipulate us.  Some canine shows conspire with tissue manufacturers.  Hallström tells a true story without indiscriminately wrenching tears from our eyes.  Unusual events in the otherwise normalcy of life make every person in the film reconsider what it means to be a friend.  Jason Alexander plays the station agent where the dog is discovered for the first time.  Alexander allows his character to inch forward in affection for the animal.  So too, Joan Allen, playing the wife who would rather not have a dog, eventually melts in acceptance of Hachi.  But Richard Gere brings his personal patience through the character which forms the lifetime bond between man and dog.  Each human character in the film seems to revolve around the pooch.  It could be said that people were made for the animal, not the other way around.

Special mention must be given about the Akita dog breed.  Once you see the animal, the Akita profile will be etched on your mind.  The handlers deserve credit for managing a bloodline whose nonchalance toward direction is well known in the canine community.  Indeed, the movie’s depiction of Hachi refusing to play “fetch” says it all.  But it is the loyalty that mesmerizes the viewer.  How could a dog give itself so completely to a human without thought of self-preservation?  This family film comes with a warning similar to any movie mentioned above: have a good supply of Kleenex in hand. 

It has been years since I have seen Lassie’s exploits.  But Hachi places all other dogs a distant second; a true representation of what it means to be “man’s best friend.”

Loyalty means to be committed, no matter what.  Rated G; but be warned about the need for Kleenex.  Mark is honest; he cries at movies too.  First published 21 February 2011.