There is a trove of criticisms of life in Korea embedded in this film, which was the first from director Bong Joon-ho:
- The bribery of professors needed to get a positon at a university.
- The corruption and the use of cheap materials in the construction boom of the late 1980's.
- How the dogs of the affluent live better than many people.
- How worthless a graduate degree in the humanities is.
- How no one in Korea follows the rules.
- How clouds of billowing insecticide are sprayed in a public area for "pest control."
- How at great risk to herself, a bank teller is lauded for taking on an armed robber, rather than rewarded for just doing her job.
- A homeless guy living in a basement who is happy to go to prison, where he'll get regular meals.
- A woman begging for money on public transportation with her small child strapped to her back.
- A woman let go from her job of eleven years because she's gotten pregnant.
I love some of things he was aiming for, many of which are clear precursors to his later films, but unfortunately, the messages here are wrapped up in a story that's pretty lackluster. A man in a loveless marriage is trying to get a job as a professor and takes out some of his frustrations on the dogs in his apartment complex whose barking irritates him. A janitor in the complex secretly kidnaps dogs to stew them up and eat them. A couple of young women see one of the dogs killed and try to do something about it. It's all kind of blah, which maybe was also part of the point, but it didn't make for compelling viewing to me, particularly as the pace was on the slow side.
