This movie stars Dakota Fanning — the Shirley Temple of our decade — and is famous for her rape scene.
As a moral leader, I’m often called upon to adjudicate tricky issues.
In this one, I side with the filmmakers. The rape scene is completely tasteful, fully artistic and not in the slightest bit erotic.
This movie belongs to the genre of southern gothic. There are snakes crawling all around and you sense something awful is going to happen any minute.
Hounddog was wise, real and profound.
RebelGyrl writes from Salt Lake City on imdb.com: "I just watched the final Sundance screening of this film earlier this evening. It was excellent. I found it to a highly emotional film with a very powerful message. Also, Dakota Fanning has a beautiful voice for someone who had never sang before filming began. Not beautiful as in technically perfect, but beautiful in the way it conveyed the emotions of the character at the time. Just to clarify for all of those who haven’t seen it, there is no pornography in this movie. In fact, Utah’s Attorney General watched it for himself, and said that it does not break any laws and contains no child pornography. Please withhold judgment until you have actually seen it."
JANUARY 25–With the Dakota Fanning rape movie "Hounddog" yet to find a buyer at the Sundance Film Festival, it remains unclear when (or if) the controversial film will land in U.S. theaters. Until then, film fans will have to make do with the below excerpt from the "Hounddog" shooting script, which describes the sexual assault of the 12-year-old actress. The film, set in the Deep South in the 1950s, features Fanning as Lewellen, a troubled girl who is attacked in a shed by a character named Wooden’s Boy. She is lured to the assault by her best friend Buddy (played by 12-year-old Cody Hanford), who watches the rape. In a "Dear reader" note, director/screenwriter Deborah Kampmeier points out that "there is no nudity or explicit violence in this scene. All nudity and violence is implied." Still, the script is very creepy, with its description of how Fanning does a seductive dance for Wooden’s Boy when he offers her tickets to see Elvis Presley. Then, after Buddy tells her to remove her clothes, the script notes that, "We see Lewellen’s clothes hit the floor. Lewellen’s underwear hits the floor hard, with defiance." [No, we’re not sure how a little girl’s undies can hit the floor with defiance. But we’re not auteurs.] As the rape occurs, Kampmeier notes, Lewellen’s "tense hand" presses down on an exposed nail, "like the pain there could catch her and hold her." As noted in the script, "LIGHTNING FLASHES" 11 times during the rape scene. (5 pages)
