Working with canine co-stars on Black Dog taught actor Eddie Peng how to stay present

SINGAPORE – In the drama film Black Dog, a former convict returns to his home town, a dusty, depopulated city in north-west China on the edge of the Gobi Desert.

Lang Yonghui used to be a local celebrity – he played in a rock band and performed motorcycle tricks. Now, he is part of a dog-catching squad.

The feral packs which have taken over the town’s streets and empty apartments need to be cleared in the weeks leading up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics. One dog is so aggressive, the authorities have put up a reward for its capture.

Instead, Lang and the black canine find that they have only each other to rely on in a world that has rejected them.

Lang is played by A-list Taiwanese actor Eddie Peng, a performer known for bigger-budget films such as the crime saga I Did It My Way (2023), alongside Hong Kong stars Andy Lau and Simon Yam, and action thriller The Rescue (2020).

In an e-mail interview with The Straits Times, Peng, 42, explained why he switched to a small art-house project helmed by respected sixth-generation Chinese director Guan Hu.

At the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, Black Dog – which is showing exclusively at The Projector – won the Un Certain Regard prize, awarded to films which display daring and innovation.

Peng took the role because he “wanted to try something different”.

“I wanted to show I can do different genres. It’s tough to make movies like this now. Fewer indie projects are being made because they draw a smaller audience. When this role came up, I jumped at it,” he says.

Filming in 2021 turned out to be a complicated affair. In addition to being part of a production that involved over a hundred dogs, needing a crew of over 20 animal wranglers, the set had to observe Covid-19 protocols.

“Everything was triple hard – commuting, logistics, you name it. It changed my perspective on life and work and gave me a lot of introspection. There was no cell signal, so there were no distractions. We were isolated. It felt like going back 10, 15 years, to a time when people used less social media and instead focused on the craft.

“It was a great lesson in staying grounded,” he says.

The barrenness of the terrain in north-west China did not deter Peng either. In a case of life reflecting art, the leading man bonded with his titular co-star, a whippet mix named Xiaoxin, or just Xin.

He adopted it as a pet and took it to the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, where Xin was recognised with the Palm Dog Award, awarded by critics for best performance by a canine or group of canines. The award is a pun on Palme d’Or, the highest award at Cannes.

Previous winners include Messi, a French Border Collie, from the Palme d’Or-winning drama Anatomy Of A Fall (2023).

“The desert area where we filmed is as harsh as it looks – it’s dry, dusty and isolated. Working with the local actors and animals, especially this black dog, was a unique experience,” says Peng.

“Dogs live so much in the moment, and I learnt a lot about being present from them.”

Guan, 56, was also someone he had admired.

The film-maker began his career telling stories about disaffected youth and others left out of the mainstream.

His first film Dirt (1994) is set in the world of young rebels involved in the Beijing rock music scene. Cow (2009), a black comedy about a villager and the prized cow he is charged to protect from Japanese invaders, was selected to screen at the Venice Film Festival.

In recent years, he has moved on to big-budget projects, such as The Eight Hundred (2020), a historical war epic detailing the exploits of a small band of Chinese soldiers resisting the Japanese invasion of Shanghai. Its worldwide take of over US$460 million (S$610 million) made it the second highest-grossing film of 2020.

Black Dog marks Guan’s return to indie film-making.

Peng says Guan “is known for his meticulous attention to detail”. “He’s a fantastic director, and I’ve always wanted to work with him.”