The Dog

In 1975, Sidney Lumet and Al Pacino made a movie that put a human face on a rather sensational true story. Three years earlier, a small time thug held up a Chase Manhattan Bank in New York, and the heist resulted in a hostage situation that lasted for 14 hours, well into the night, as police, reporters and crowds of spectators hoarded around the building.

This self-proclaimed "Robin Hood," John Wojtowicz, said his goal was to get enough money to fund his lover's sex-reassignment surgery. The movie was called "Dog Day Afternoon."

In "The Dog" we hear this story in the words of the actual people involved, but the tale continues and we learn about everything that happened once the Lumet film ended.

John, the man Al Pacino plays in the film, now calls himself "The Dog." After being released from prison, he has been desperately trying to capitalize on the best thing that has ever happen to him in his life - someone made a movie about the outlandish thing he did.

A proud "pervert," John positioned himself at the center of the early gay liberation movement and was a ravenous bigamist taking on multiple wives and lovers, both men and women. By his own admission, he has an excessive libido and a tiny penis. This is a larger-than-life man who really likes talking about himself and everyone with a media outlet wants a piece of John - he just wants to be someone special.

For over ten years, filmmakers Allison Berg and Frank Keraudren captured revealing footage and interviews with not only John, but also his mother, his brother, his lovers, his male wife, his MTF wife, his cis female wife, people he took hostage, reporters who witnessed his crime, and people on the street.

Pieced together with historical footage and photographs, this bizarre, archeologically provocative, and ultimately poignant documentary is a must-have accompaniment to the brilliant feature film "Dog Day Afternoon." Proving that everyone has a story and most of us are desperate to share.

Special features include an audio commentary with the directors featuring documentary curator Thom Powers, deleted scenes, the theatrical trailer, and a 12-page booklet with more question and answers from the directors.

"The Dog"
Blu-ray / Digital HD
Not Rated / 100 min.
www.drafthousefilms.com