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Editorial Reviews
About the Director
From the Award Winning Director Bong Joon-ho (The Host)
Product Description
In Bong Joon-ho's directorial debut
film, Barking Dogs Never Bite, an
unemployed grad student with an
expectant wife is driven to distraction by a yapping dog located somewhere in his large apartment complex. Determined to relieve his annoyance, he sets off to take extreme action against his
tormentor; an action that will come
to haunt him.
film, Barking Dogs Never Bite, an
unemployed grad student with an
expectant wife is driven to distraction by a yapping dog located somewhere in his large apartment complex. Determined to relieve his annoyance, he sets off to take extreme action against his
tormentor; an action that will come
to haunt him.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Finally! I've been waiting nine years for this movie to come out on US DVD, ever since I saw it at the first New York Korean Film Festival in 2001. I knew it was just a matter of time, since director Bong has gotten a lot of international attention for his three subsequent features, "Memories of Murder," "The Host" and "Mother."
Those are all terrific, but this this simultaneously depressing and exhilarating black comedy on the suburban rat race is still his best. It's got all the stuff that makes Bong distinctive - his caustic cynicism about human nature and human institutions combined with an unfeigned compassion for humans as individuals; an affection for marginal, oddball types that doesn't tip into sentimental idealization; snappy visual wit full of imaginative framing and editing; a finely tuned ear for enormously funny but penetrating dialogue; a glee in booby-trapping the plot with surprises large and small; a daring but exquisitely right mix of contrasting tones - horror and humor, slapstick and melancholy.
The actors are all perfect, particularly the two iconic leads. Handsome superstar Lee Sung-jae plays against type beautifully as a henpecked, career-stalled academic so spineless and full of repressed rage he seems about to curl into himself and vanish. And this was my first glimpse of the enchanting Bae Doo-na, Korea's #1 actress for playing endearing misfits and no-hopers, something she's never done better than here.
I could go on and on - this is a little-acknowledged modern classic. Whatever the hell "modern classic" means.
(But yeah, if you're supersqueamish about harm to cute, fluffy dogs, you might want to approach with caution - it's a major part of the story. That said, there's a disclaimer at the beginning that no animals were harmed in the shoot, and there's nothing onscreen that makes me think otherwise - it's mostly offscreen suggestion.)
Those are all terrific, but this this simultaneously depressing and exhilarating black comedy on the suburban rat race is still his best. It's got all the stuff that makes Bong distinctive - his caustic cynicism about human nature and human institutions combined with an unfeigned compassion for humans as individuals; an affection for marginal, oddball types that doesn't tip into sentimental idealization; snappy visual wit full of imaginative framing and editing; a finely tuned ear for enormously funny but penetrating dialogue; a glee in booby-trapping the plot with surprises large and small; a daring but exquisitely right mix of contrasting tones - horror and humor, slapstick and melancholy.
The actors are all perfect, particularly the two iconic leads. Handsome superstar Lee Sung-jae plays against type beautifully as a henpecked, career-stalled academic so spineless and full of repressed rage he seems about to curl into himself and vanish. And this was my first glimpse of the enchanting Bae Doo-na, Korea's #1 actress for playing endearing misfits and no-hopers, something she's never done better than here.
I could go on and on - this is a little-acknowledged modern classic. Whatever the hell "modern classic" means.
(But yeah, if you're supersqueamish about harm to cute, fluffy dogs, you might want to approach with caution - it's a major part of the story. That said, there's a disclaimer at the beginning that no animals were harmed in the shoot, and there's nothing onscreen that makes me think otherwise - it's mostly offscreen suggestion.)
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Good God, some people are just totally unable to see the forest for the trees! This film is a wonderful little gem from the early days of a director who is now internationally acclaimed as a brilliant young talent. I found it hilariously funny (albeit in a very dark way) -- yes, including the dog-dinner scenes -- as well as witty, quirky, warm, incisive, and ultimately moving in the way it shows the final redemption of the quasi-villain. As the timid dog-killer confesses his crimes to the heroic slacker, I could read the wonderful panorama of complex and conflicting emotions going through their minds on both their faces. I wanted to give them each a hug! In fact all of the actors were wonderful, including the supporting and minor characters (the crazy homeless man was a hoot, and the Amazonian best friend with the unexpected tender streak made me wish I had a pal like her to get my back). If you can't appreciate their excellent work because you cannot get over the dog scenes (even though they're staged anyway) or the 'offensive' satirical observations -- well, I guess you'd better just stay away from anything that's not warm and fuzzy and uplifting in the future (although the ending of this movie could well be called that, too, in its own offbeat way). Oh, and by the way, all the people who found the dog scenes (again, staged) offensive and THEREFORE decided this movie is garbage (yes, I mean you), I hope you condemn any movie that features the killing of human beings (some even do so in the spirit of humor!) in even stronger terms... you do, right?
1 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
I didn't understand the point of this movie... unless it's meant to be an indictment of the Korean university system since the central character, a worthless, sociopathic loser, bribes his way into a professorship. There's only one likable character in the movie, a young woman who tries to do the right thing. Her only vice is wanting recognition, and her efforts to help people cause her to lose her job.
The whole thing plays like a student film. A bunch of odd characters and odd situations with a story that goes nowhere. Lots of detail and no insight. Very static and not at all funny.
The whole thing plays like a student film. A bunch of odd characters and odd situations with a story that goes nowhere. Lots of detail and no insight. Very static and not at all funny.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
is there something lower than 1 star
Maybe I just don't understand comedy. Or maybe Korean comedy is something Americans don't "get". Or maybe because I come from a culture where dogs are considered pets, I'm not... Read more
Published 12 months ago by Patricia R. Andersen
Dont even bother.
I've watched many bad movies and this one is up there with the worst movie ever made. I cant even explain it, its just bad. Read more
Published 18 months ago by S. Carr
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