Foreign Film Friday - Dog Nail Clipper (2004)

Also known as Koirankynnen leikkaaja

Ever seen a motion picture starring a Finnish Spitz? Dog Nail Clipper is a Finnish movie from director Markku Pölönen, filmed in Joensuu, Finland, also a filming location for the classic WWI drama Doctor Zhivago (1965).

Dog Nail Clipper tells the story of a British soldier who suffers a brain injury in World War Two and finds himself in the Finnish countryside looking for work. A friend tells him of the trouble he’s having with his dog’s overlong dewclaws and soon worries of the dog fill his mind as much as the war.

The film is available in the U.S. and Canada with English subtitles on a PAL format DVD.

Produced by Fennada-Filmi

Foreign Film Friday - Umberto D. (1952)

Umberto D. is a dramatic Italian film about old age pensioner Umberto D. Ferrari (Carlo Battisti) faced with losing both is home and his dog when he cannot pay his rent and is admitted to the hospital. Flike, the dog, a smooth-coated terrier cross played by Napoleone, is the one constant, nonjudgemental, loving figure in Ferrari’s life.

The film is readily available thanks to The Criterion Collection, which released a DVD in 2003 and Blu-ray in 2012.

Produced by Rizzoli Film, Produzione Films Vittorio De Sica, Amato Film