27th Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival: “Death Plan for a Dog and a Man”: The Oracle of Death in Athens Speaks

The 27^th Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival runs until 16March2025.

Slice and dice your interpretation of the Greek documentary “Death Plan for a Dog and a Man” and you just may have nailed down the last nail of the coffin. For lack of a more sophisticated descriptor this is a “fun” film but one with deep meaning.

Artsy yes. Obscure and irrelevant no.

An elderly man and his dog Ermis look death proximate. In the haunting backdrop of “High COVID” Athens the man sits on a chair with a weakened Ermis at his side outside their hovel and watch the world go by. There is not much of a world as there are almost no people on the street except for several homeless people sleeping.

Is the elderly man an oracle of death who at one point in the hills overlooking Athens speaks to its citizens about how powerful he is as the strongest made for all times warning those below no mater how you hide evil will find you? His view is that how much a human tries to differentiate himself from animals humans are animals hibernating in fear of COVID’s possible death grip.

I derive my interpretation of the elderly man as an oracle of death by the fact early on he repeatedly speaks with Yiorgos a neighbourhood friend that has died. Who can speak with the dead other than an oracle of death? Another plausible interpretation is the elderly man is in purgatory with Ermis waiting for his final trip across the Acheron. What I will not accept is that this is simply a documentary about COVID. Rather COVID is the background where the oracle of death is omnipresent stating that all have a death plan and you follow the steps starting with a bored soul that notifies your cells it is time they prepare for the farewell.

Death is but a part of life and we all have our death journey with optimism, fantasy, the desire to become rich, the willingness to accept salvation from it all then death.

When death is near the haunting soundtrack is accentuated by the sound of buzzing flies reminiscent of the bloody pig head on a stick in “Lord of the Flies”.

This 66-minute Greek documentary, or short if you prefer, is directed by Christos Karakepelis. Its layered complexity demands your attention and challenges you to make an interpretation of its meaning.

RKS 2025 Documentary Rating 96/100.