'Quill: The life of a guide dog' movie review, trailer: Dog is better than humans

BY MIRIAM RINN

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

MOVIE REVIEW

The Japanese may love dogs as much as Americans do, but they don’t treat them with as much indulgence. At least, not all Japanese. That’s the primary point I took away from “Quill,” a quasi-documentary feature about the training of a guide dog for the blind. Directed by Yoichi Sai, “Quill” is a cross between an old-fashioned Disney live-action film and something you’d see on Animal Planet. As usual, the dogs are much more appealing than the humans.

One of a litter of the cutest yellow lab puppies you’ve ever seen, Quill leaves his mother and siblings to go live with a doting couple until he’s about a year old. They are instructed never to scold him and give him lots of affection, which they gladly do, but they keep him on a covered porch, never letting him inside. They give him his name because of a strange bird-shaped mark on his side.

He gets into some adorable puppy mischief as puppies will, but he’s a sweet dog and eager to please. In what seems a short while, it’s off to the guide dog training facility, where Quill must learn all the different skills he’ll need as a guide dog. The Japanese trainers aren’t dog whisperer types; they use repetition and praise to train the dogs. Quill may not be the smartest of the bunch, but he’s extraordinarily patient and obedient, qualities that are critical for a guide dog. If “Quill” was an actual documentary, we might get a deeper understanding of how a guide dog learns the necessary skills, but Sai focuses on what is supposed to be the narrative arc.

Finally, Quill’s potential master arrives to train with him, and that’s when the fil m stops being super cute and gets downright weird. Although Mr. Watanabe (Kaoru Kobayashi) is the principal of a school for disabled adults, he seems to have little understanding of the benefits of a service animal. He’s boorish and bullying to his students and to his family in what may be an instance of Japanese humor. It’s hard to tell. Mr. Watanabe and Quill don’t take to each other right away, mostly because of the man’s arrogance. Once he passes the exam at the training facility--and it takes a few tries--Watanabe ignores the trainer’s instructions and insists on walking Quill down the middle of the street. Of course, traffic piles up behind them, and the dog is totally confused. Rather than realizing and acknowledging his foolishness, Mr. Watanabe seems to blame Quill.

Again, it’s difficult to read these characters. But it’s not hard to see that the Watanabe family don’t treat the dog well, leaving him in an outdoor pen in pouring rain and searing heat. Quill should have demanded another master.

At some point, the dog returns to the training facility and spends years there. Unfortunately, we never learn why he isn’t assigned to another blind person. Just another odd detail in an odd movie. But the dog is darling and gives a great performance.