Hagen and Lili’s relationship

Hagen and Lili’s relationship in White God is a bond of affection disrupted by human actions and briefly recalled through music. Their reunion in the midst of a canine uprising shows how much Hagen has changed, while Lili’s horn reaches the part of him still responsive to their shared past. The calm she creates cannot undo the violence that has shaped him or promise the dogs’ safety.

The Bond Before the Separation

Hagen is Lili’s beloved mixed-breed pet in Budapest. Their relationship is presented as close and familiar: Lili plays her horn for him, and its music has a soothing effect. The horn, which she uses in her school orchestra, becomes the clearest sign of their shared history and later the means by which she tries to reach him.

Their separation begins when Lili’s father refuses to pay a tax imposed on people who own dogs that are not purebred. Hagen is thrown out into the street, and the two are divided even as Lili does all she can to find him. The film thus makes their loss a consequence of human rules and choices, rather than a failure of their affection for one another.

Hagen’s Transformation

As Hagen tries to return to Lili, dogcatchers obstruct him, and a man trains him to fight. After his first time in the ring, Hagen understands both what he has done and what has been done to him. He escapes his trainer, is caught again, and is taken to a pound where he is slated to be destroyed; his escape there frees many other dogs, who follow him through the city.

By the time Hagen and Lili meet again, he has become the leader of a canine army. Their reunion takes place in the courtyard of the slaughterhouse where Lili’s father works as a meat inspector. Hagen bares his teeth and snarls at Lili. The contrast with their former intimacy is stark: he now sees her as a human being, and her father, who began the conflict, is beside her. The pack around Hagen is ready to strike, making the lost bond part of a larger confrontation between dogs and people.

Music and Recognition

Lili remembers that Hagen used to respond to her playing. She takes the horn from her backpack and begins to play, drawing on a shared practice rather than trying to approach him through force. Hagen calms and lies down; the other dogs also grow quiet and lie down. The film lets the familiar sound interrupt the threat of violence, briefly restoring a connection between the two while extending the pause to the whole pack.

The moment does not return Hagen to the pet Lili knew. Instead, it shows that their past still has force even after his ordeal has transformed him. Lili’s music can quiet him and the dogs, but it cannot erase what has happened or settle the conflict that brought them together again.

An Unresolved Reunion

The ending is explicitly not happy: the dogs are understood to be doomed, even though they have had their revenge. Hagen and Lili’s encounter therefore offers a moment of peace without a lasting reconciliation or a safe future for the pack. Their relationship remains significant precisely in that limited interval—the horn recalls their affection, while the surrounding danger makes clear how little that affection can repair.