| Director | Toa Fraser |
|---|---|
| Budget | $15 million |
| Box office | $1.4 million |
The narrative is called "a surreal period comedic tale of canine reincarnation exploring the relationships between father and son and master and dog". Peter O'Toole said that the film's use of comedy to explore the relationship between a father and son was part of the attraction for him: "All of us have had these difficult familial relationships and I think it's a film for all of us who understand the relationship between a father and son. It's been interesting watching how various members of the crew have been looking at the monitors during scenes, because they come up to me and say, 'I had the same thing with my father.
In the very early 1900s, Henslowe Fisk lives beholden to his father, the difficult Horatio Fisk. The Fisk family has suffered first the loss of its younger son, Harrington Fisk (Xavier Horan), killed in the Second Anglo-Boer War, shortly followed by the death of Horatio's wife. Fisk Senior is looked after by his housekeeper Mrs Brimley (Judy Parfitt) who has lost her husband. Fisk Junior reluctantly visits his father every Thursday.
One day, trying to entertain his father, Fisk Junior takes him to a lecture by a visiting swami (Art Malik) about the transmigration of souls. The lecture is also attended by the new local clergyman, Dean Spanley (Sam Neill).
Later the same day Fisk Junior encounters the Dean at his father's club. A chance third meeting leads to an introduction. Fisk Junior, initially intrigued by the Dean's oddly open-minded views on reincarnation, is prompted to look beyond the Dean's appearance (that of an affable, rather bland clergyman) by his weakness for certain peculiar sensations produced by Hungarian Imperial Tokay wine, which leads him into a dreamlike state. Working with his clever friend Wrather (Bryan Brown), an Australian "conveyancer", Fisk secures a batch of Tokay and the two entertain the Dean, who acts ever more strangely, starting to reveal memories of his previous life – as a Welsh Spaniel. These memories are acute and convincing, including rich feelings around food and communication with other canines, a deep distaste for cats and pigs, and the joy of serving his master.
As the story unfolds, Fisk Junior comes to understand his father's background better and the two draw closer. Fisk Senior recalls the beloved spaniel he owned as a child, who ran away one day and was never found. Fisk Junior believes that the Dean is the reincarnation of his father's dog. Attending a dinner with Wrather and the two Fisks, the Dean reminisces about the day he ran away from home with a friendly stray dog. The two dogs spent a perfect day together; chasing a neighbouring farmer's sheep, hunting a rabbit, and barking at the moon. The Dean recalls heading home across the farmer's field, only to be shot by the farmer. He tells Fisk Senior that it was sudden and he felt no pain; reassurance that helps Fisk Senior finally accept the death of his son Harrington.
As the Dean and Wrather leave the dinner party, it's implied that Wrather was the friendly stray dog in a past life. Mrs Brimley recounts the evening's events to her husband's empty chair. Fisk Junior begins to visit his father more regularly. Fisk Senior adopts a new dog and spends time in his wife's garden.