As for the movie itself, I like how you're using 'banal' in a non-pejorative way. Old Dog sounds like a prime neo-realist work (right down to the centrality of the dog, which seems to characterize all stories of suffering inhabitants of an unwell country). This sounds pretty interesting and I'd like to see it pick up more exposure. Thanks for the heads up.

PS by some weird twist of fate, I'm about to watch Afterschool for the first time. Don't worry though, you didn't ruin it for me 🙂