Barking Dogs Never Bite

Barking Dogs Never Bite is written & directed by Bong Joon-ho and stars Sung-jae Lee, Doona Bae, Hie-bong Byeon, Su-hee Go and Ho-jung Kim.

An idle part-time college lector is annoyed by the yapping sound of a near-by dog. He decides to take drastic action.

Bong Joon-ho is a critically-acclaimed, visionary director who has created some of cinema's finest moments; be it cinematography, editing or storytelling, he has made a name for himself and is most definitely one to look out for. But, what kickstarted this successful career? A little film called Puhran Dah Suh Uigeh, translated as Barking Dogs Never Bite. The question is, how good is it?

The answer; very good. Even though the story seems unadorned, this is an incredibly intricate experience, featuring compelling visuals, brilliant performances, smart editing and the foundation of Joon-ho's unique staging technique. He allows actors to perform with their body, eyes and hands, as a way of attracting the viewers attention, further propelling the story forward. This can be seen in the scene where the Janitor (Hie-Bong Byeon) is telling the tale of Boiler Kim in the apartment complex basement. Ensemble staging becomes a great part of Joon-ho's films, especially in Memories of Murder, but this is where it started. The performances from Sung-jae Lee and Doona Bae are satisfyingly entertaining, and although never branching out to anything more dynamic, they both complement each other well and keep the film running trippingly.

Original music by Sung-woo Jo is strangely fitting and enjoyable, being a well- developed framework that sounds simplistic yet never venturing too far as to distract the viewer.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, editing is a huge part of any film, and so should be treated with absolute care. I imagine Joon-ho had a watchful eye over Eun Soo Lee in the editing process. There are moments where it's sharp and fast-paced and others slow and steady, it all depends on the pace and rhythm of the scene. It's also hard to place the genre of this film, it's sold as a dark comedy, but here and there are drops of horror/thriller themes, which really adds to the originality of this film and aids its director.

It was incredibly difficult to come by a copy of this film with English subtitles attached, so I only hope the version I watched was accurate and true to the original dialogue. However, I feel the experience would stay very much the same without any understanding of the spoken language. It's all told through visuals and body-language which is likely why Bong Joon-ho's work is so widely respected by most audiences.

Verdict; I truly believe that anyone studying film, or looking to work in the industry, should take a look at the work of Joon-ho, if only to gain more of an understanding of how stories can be told not just through words, but through movement and emotion. While Barking Dogs Never Bite is a simple concept, it's captured beautifully through visuals.

Puhran Dah Suh Uigeh (Barking Dogs Never Bite), 8/10.

and that would have been a real shame. This movie was thoroughly enjoyable. I think this would make an excellent introduction to Korean cinema because it was MY introduction to korean cinema and I didn't find it inaccessible in any way.

It was not as gruesome or hard to stomach as I was expecting, nor was it really as dark as mentioned above. If you could sit through Fargo, you could certainly sit through and really enjoy this film.

To say it does not have many jokes misses the point, because some of the situations that characters find themselves are quite hilarious--especially the chase scenes. The acting and directing are excellent. If you get a chance to catch "Barking Dogs Never Bite" don't miss it.

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.

This is something of a rarity, a indie Korean film. It's also Joon-ho Bong's directorial debut. It's brilliant. Slow, but impeccably paced and broadly intermixed with multiple levels of wonderful comedy, acting, atmosphere (a kind of existential (and cement) wasteland), and directing. Be warned. Pet lovers are going to be shocked, and maybe outraged. But really, don't take this too literally, Joon-ho Bong knows he is playing with your sensibilities and he knows that you know it (or you should know it by now, if you have been watching film, tv, and advertising for your entire life). This is real cinematic virtuosity.

The promotion for this film compared it to American Beauty and that was a somewhat surprising but very apt comparison. American Beauty would be a fine double bill with this. But, if you have not seen any other Korean films you should give some a try. I saw this as part of a festival with JSA (Joint Security Area), The Isle and some others, but those two were very good and would also be good for a double bill. A little farther afield might be Tsai Ming Liang's the HOLE, or even farther, (and certainly not for the fainthearted) Go Go Second Time Virgin by Kosi Wakamatsu. Both intense looks at life in barren modern times and barren apartment complexes.

I only found about this movie through the director Bong Jun Ho, who I think is a legend for producing Salineui Chuak. Anyways my hopes were high for this movie.

This was the debut film for the director Bong and the camera-work and music scores are kind of crude for a recent Korean film. That's not a bad thing since it brings more vibrancy and tension of the situation, especially in the chase scenes.

Some people might find themselves disturbed by the scenes with the dogs, but there isn't much in it, just the fact that they're not treated like your ordinary pet. Try to put yourself into a Korean's point of view where a dog isn't any different from chicken.

The comedy element cannot be missed out too. The situations are so hilarious and fresh, it felt as if my new eye opened. What's amazing is that these situations look realistic and it's believable.

Some marks were deducted because even though the scenes were original and executed well, the director failed to put them all together to have some sort of meaning. It's really weird how my favourite scenes are the ones that could've been cut (like the toilet paper scene and the ghost story in the basement)