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We at the Team Flawless Institute of Empirical Film Study are a studious lot. When discussing film, we like to break it down to its basic components. Namely, how do the mechanics of character, plot, and dialogue combine in a given motion picture to produce emotion and provoke thoughts in the hearts and minds of the audience members? Basically, we're serious as hell about the art and craft of film.
That's why it came as a surprise to us that we enjoyed Girls Gone Wild: Doggy Style so very, very much. Shot on digital video and featuring a virtually unknown cast, GGW: DS falls into the new style of verite filmmaking championed by the Dogme '95 movement. This film portrays life as it happens, in gritty, grainy and often blurry shots that dispose of the conventions of cinematography and focus completely on the realistic subject matter at hand. Namely, hundreds of women's' breasts.
 Will this film win an Independent Spirit Award? Not for lack of trying. Look at how independent and spirited this young lady is.
While the film lacks the subtlety of Mike Figgis' Timecode, and eschews the art-house feel of films like Mifune and Italian For Beginners, it does intrigue Team Flawless Institute of Empirical Film Study members with its undulating globes of woman flesh. True, the film falls short in the areas of plot, character development and dialogue, but the rampant display of pulsating, glistening, nubile ingénues is enough to offset its shortcomings. Still, each of this film's main ingredients deserves a closer look.
--------------------------------- Character
The central character in this tale of flesh and fantasy is the tall, dashing trickster referred to in various places as "Snoop Dogg," "Snoop Doggy Dogg," and "Snoopy D.O. Double Gizzle." The action swerves and lurches around him as he grips a chalice full of mead and descends upon the city of New Orleans for the most lecherous of Pagan celebrations, Mardi Gras.
A split second before cinema verite.
It seems like Mr. Dogg's primary motivations throughout the film are to incite women to disrobe, drink from his chalice, smoke what we can only assume is a marijuana cigarette, and say things like "it's going to be off the hizzle for shizzle this wizzle."
But we cannot fully understand the character of Mr. Dogg without digging a little deeper. To do this, let's explore the character arc as it progresses through the film's three acts. As the film moves from Act One to Act Two, Snoop is at a crossroads. As he arrives at an exclusive club teeming with young, vivacious sorority sweethearts and drooling, cajoling fraternity churls, someone offers him the microphone. Will he set down his chalice and address the crowd? Or will he keep the drink in his hand and talk anyway? The fiber of his being seems to hang in the balance.
Is this professional football player Ricky Williams making an appearance?
When Mr. Dogg finally sets down the chalice, grabs the microphone, and picks up a smoke, his actions seem to be saying, "Hark, ye Gods! I defy the urge to drink from yon cup while issuing a message for the gather'd masses. " What he actually says is "All the fellas in the house, lemme hear you say 'bee-atch!'" The complexity of his spirit at that moment is crucial to understanding the message of Mr. Dogg's journey.
These ladies are all too willing to add a little "reality" to this "documentary."
As the movie progresses, however, the fabric of Snoop Doggy Dogg's character begins to wear thin. We are no longer treated to poignant glimpses into his soul, as we were with the chalice-for-mic swap. As Dogg stumbles from party to party, his expression never changes (he's always smiling), and his character does not grow--at least in any visually obvious ways. As at the beginning of the film, he is willing to quench his base desires in a sea of lechery and sin. And although we as viewers cannot blame him--after all, there is a non-stop parade of bosom and derriere here--he does not make for a tragic or sympathetic character. In fact, most IGN Institute of Empirical Film Study members just wanted to beat his ass out of jealousy.
The character named Snoop Dogg makes a bold, inquisitive journey of self discovery and drunken lechery.
As for other characters, there are hundreds, if not thousands, but alas, they all share the spotlight for mere moments. There is no real chance for character arc or internal struggle when a character is onscreen for twelve seconds with undergarments around her ankles. Plot
Presented in vignette fashion, this motion picture is fractured at best. If not for the entertaining subject matter--ladies gyrating and shaking their glands with reckless abandon--it would have been hard to stomach, indeed. However, the unifying imagery of the motion picture serve as a sort of "sticky glue-like substance" that holds it together. Scene upon scene play out in the same fashion. Snoop Dogg and his "crew" walk up to a fair maiden, or group of fair maidens, and ask them to show "a little sumpin' sumpin'" (to use the vernacular). Then, these groups of females comply, often with quite a good deal of relish and verve. And so the film progresses.
 The theme of this intricate and delicately crafted film is: bodacious ta-tas.
If there is one theme that unifies the film, it would be melons. Jugs. Racks. Whatever you call them, we haven't seen so many liberated breasts since the Doors performed at the Hollywood Bowl. The clever thing is, no matter how many times variations on the same imagery are presented, we're transfixed. Art films we've seen have tried to accomplish the same goal using repetitive imagery of broken light bulbs and rusted barn doors. But here's a memo to art film makers everywhere: boobs work better.
We're not going to try to say that this film has a coherent plot, or that any kind of emotional journey takes place. We're not going to care, either. The Team Flawless Institute of Empirical Film Study takes its job very seriously, and in this case our job is to tell you that images of lusty coeds unleashing their charms on the surly streets of New Orleans will always beat scintillating storytelling.
Dialogue
A good deal of the Dogme movement calls for film to "happen," meaning that action and dialogue can flow from the understanding of character. Realistic filmmaking such as this often does not call for a script. Actors, in this case, must be called upon to deliver meaningful dialogue without the safety net of a screenwriter. Explore some of the ad-lib nuggets Calvin Broadus (Mr. Dogg's real name) brings to the project:
- "Don't bring no clothes cuz it's gonna be off the hizzle for shizzle my dizzle."
- "This is about the wildest these hos done ever did got."
- "I feel like President Clinton in this mofo. Not, Bush, I'm talkin' 'bout the real President."
- "I bet you if I had a chicken burger, they'd show me their whole ass right now."
Producers have spent millions of dollars to get brilliant dialogue like this into their feature films. But Mr. Dogg casts it off effortlessly. Aside from the heaving, sweaty, raw nakedness on display, the dialogue is the best part of the film. Harmony Korine would be proud.
Our study of Girls Gone Wild: Doggy Style proved one thing to us. Documentary filmmaking is not dead. There are still those among us who can deliver deep, important messages about ordinary people who affect our daily lives. Especially people who flash us.
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