As unlikely it sounds, Dogwatch is a delight to watch, an aesthetically pleasing and almost poetic observation of three men working as armed guards on ships traversing pirate-infested waters.
The documentary, which starts with an alienating scene of three men doing some kind of military drill aboard a container ship on a beautiful blue sea, is divided in three chapters, each portraying a member of the Marine Security.
The first is rookie Yorgos, a young man – still carrying some baby fat – soaking up the last bit of fun and freedom in Sri Lanka before he sets off to guard a ship as it travels half way around the globe. The second is the extremely fit and experienced Costa, who is aboard a vessel which is about to enter dangerous waters. And last is Victor, who’s desperate to lay down his weapons after a long career, to spend time with his family in Greece.
You immediately get drawn in, as these portraits are anything but conventional – the first time we get to see of Yorgos, he is lying on a massage table before sitting entangled with the masseuse afterwards for a considerable amount of time. The framework of the film is built on these long spun-out scenes which provide a meditative and poetic feel. Yorgos’ head is shaved. He’s doing some last heavy training sessions on the beach and is then transported through colourfully-lit streets in a tuk-tuk to a club, where he dances bare chested on the bar before returning to the basic rooms he shares with his colleague guards.
The last shot in this chapter is taken from a car passing the sea – where a lonely containership is awaiting its armed guard.
The film then cleverly cuts to the next chapter of Costa on board a similar ship. He, his two colleagues and the nervous crew are about to enter waters which are known for pirates and terrorists.
As they prepare themselves and the ship – they undertake heavy drills and tie barbed wired all along the sides and blind the windows – the tension mounts. It almost feels like an arthouse action movie, one in which one-eyed pirates might enter the deck any minute. But even as nothing happens, the ominous music – sometimes sounding like whales from deep inside the ocean – creates suspense and the illusion of extreme danger. You almost wish for the villains to appear, so you can watch these Rambos take them out.
Chapter three puts your feet back on the ground – literally – the Greek soil where Victor is applying for a desk job at the office of Marine Security. He’s also training new recruits, as piracy will never cease to exist. We get to see him at home with his tough and impressively fit and tattooed wife, and his young son who is eager to follow in his footsteps. It is the end of the road, but new travellers are ready to replace him.
Dogwatch is an absolute delight to watch, because of its poetic imagery and cameras that are intelligently deployed to create informative and aesthetic compositions. The accompanying score alternates between silence, the sound of breath or fabric on skin, and atmospheric music that highlights the absurdity, the tension or the melancholy of the situations.
The movie is an account of a harsh reality but it manages to find the beauty and poetry within, leaving you feeling all the better for it.
Greece/France, 2022, 78 mins
Dir: Gregoris Rentis
Languages: English, Greek (Subtitles: French, English)
Screenplay: Gregoris Rentis
Photography: Thomas Tsiftelis
Sound: Aris Pavlidis, Dimitris Kanellopoulos, Leandros Ntounis, Matthieu Deniau
Editing: Chronis Theocharis
Music: Forest Swords
Production: Gregoris Rentis, BYRD; Vicky Miha asterisk*; Clement Duboin, Good Fortune Films
