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Bae Doo Na, Sung-jae Lee, Du-na Bae

A man who has decided dogs are not his best friend takes matters into his own hands in this dark comedy from South Korea. A college professor (Lee Sung-jae), who with his wife is awaiting the birth of... read more read more... their baby, is being led to the end of his tether by the constant barking of a dog somewhere in the apartment complex they call home. In a fit of rage, he snaps and kills the dog in a nearby flat -- only to discover another dog is still barking somewhere in the building. Soon, one dog after another is disappearing, and the angry teacher is having to come up with new and creative ways to hide his grisly pastime. Meanwhile, the manager of the apartment building (Bae Doo-na) keeps getting more and more complaints about pets who've gone missing, and becomes increasingly determined to find the culprit. Puhran Dah Suh Uigeh was the first feature from director and screenwriter Bong Joon-ho. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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79% liked it

1,117 ratings

Unrated, 1 hr. 48 min.

Directed by: Joon-ho Bong

Release Date: February 19, 2000

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DVD Release Date: July 20, 2010

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Flixster Reviews (114)

  • axadntpron
    April 25, 2011
    axadntpron
    A wickedly smart and hilarious black comedy/social satire from the master of South Korean cinema himself, Bong Joon-Ho. It is a film about a struggling graduate student (Sung-Jae Lee) caught up the seemingly endless rat race of everyday life. The Seoul of Joon-Ho's mind is filled... read more with a burnt out population who feel that they can only achieve greatness through unscrupulous avenues or in the unlikely event that they will end up on television. When Lee seems to be on the precipice of madness due to constant societal demands, his rage is projected onto a neighbors dog. What ensues next is an opaque but comical attempt to dispatch the poor animal.
    What sets Joon-Ho apart from his cohorts in Korean Cinema, namely Park Chan-Wook, is that he isn't there to solely shock the viewer. Sure the material makes for some surprising moments, but Joon-Ho brings up some important questions. Why do people pamper animals when they themselves must toil endlessly just to achieve sustenance? Why do people long to nourish animals when they are not nourished by their own caretakers?
    It is an interesting and thought provoking film that is wrapped in a delightful black comedy and is definative proof that South Korean directors are some of the most premiere filmmakers of this generation.
  • kiriyamakazou
    February 7, 2009
    kiriyamakazou
    Bong Joon-ho's first film and it's easy to see how he became an interest to the Korean mainstream. His sense of humour is even darker here than it is in Memories of Murder or The Host. It certainly wont be for everyone, especially if you be loving little doggies. It's quite bizar... read morere how we feel sympathy for Yun-Ju. He may do some pretty sick things but he is life's doormat. The film goes further than most films would even dare. Their are not comeuppances as such, but the characters do learn valuable lessons. A niche market film, but one where you should be able to appreciate the director's talent and what he has gone on to achieve since.
  • gator681
    December 3, 2010
    gator681
    In "Barking Dogs Never Bite," Yun-Ju(Lee Sung-Jae) is like a lot of other people with advanced degrees in that he is out of work, currently held prisoner to the hormones of his pregnant wife(Kim Ho-Jung). It is only fair since she actually has a job and brings home the bacon wher... read moreeas he has to go and get the walnuts. Otherwise, things may be looking up on the employment front as a professor was killed by a subway train, creating an opening. So, all Yun-Ju needs is a $10,000 bribe. In the meantime, he gets obsessed with a barking dog, stealing it and hiding it away. The dog's owner, a young girl, misses her little dog so much that she prints flyers which Hyeon-Nam(Bae Du-Na) stamps in her official capacity. In her unofficial capacity, she posts the flyers for the girl. And then Yun-Ju realizes he might have gotten the wrong dog...

    "Barking Dogs Never Bite" is a delightful and funny dark comedy that shows Bong Joon-Ho with his debut feature already has a command of the medium with his shot compositions and deceptively complex plotting. What the movie especially reminds me of is Jimmy Breslin's entertaining columns about his hatred of dogs, especially those in cities where they have a tiny amount of room and are locked up all day. Humans, like dogs, need their space to roam which is not easily found in such confined surroundings that may not also be conducive to good mental health. This thought is expressed well throughout the film, especially in the last two scenes. If animal cruelty turns you off, then this may not be your film but it is really not that gruesome. And it handles its criticism of cities much sweeter than that of "Seven" which said that if you live in a city, you will be miserable all of the time, it will be constantly raining(even if you live in Phoenix) and then Kevin Spacey will move in next door.

    Note: No animals were harmed in the writing of this review. I wrote it after lunch which is a whole different matter...

    (Originally reviewed in the blog section 3/3/2010.)
  • lesleyanorton
    December 17, 2010
    lesleyanorton
    A strange little film, about a bunch of people living in a block of flats and some mysteriously vanishing mostly barky dogs. Not at all what I expected from the director of THE HOST and MEMORES OF MURDER., this one felt like a Mike Leigh film, if Mike Leigh happened to be Korean.... read more I don't know if tha'ts a good thing or not.
  • KLFilmmaker
    November 26, 2010
    KLFilmmaker
    Joon-ho Bong first film is definitely worth seeking out. Hard to watch at times, but too darkly funny to turn away. A great little film by one of my favorite Korean directors.
  • threefolddado
    April 8, 2008
    threefolddado
    A Funny and clever dark comedy, about a man who plans to kill his neighbor's noisy, yapping dog and the girl who attempts to foil him.
  • ProudlyExiled
    November 3, 2011
    ProudlyExiled
    Well I never thought I would see a movie about animal cruelty and be so amused. Barking Dogs Don't Bite started off very slowly. But after a couple of minutes it picked up showing Yun-ju (Sun-jae Le) to be a failure who is constantly bothered by a yapping dog in his apartment ... read morebuilding. So he decides to do something about it. The movie has a dark sense of humor. Rest assured that the dogs are never harmed in real life, but some of the scenes are cruel.
    The movie it's self get's funnier as it moves along. Hyeon-nam (Doona Bae) is hilarious as our heroine, though her friend is a bit rough. Joon-ho Bong was very good and Hitchcockian at times. Lighting was used well to intensify certain scenes and set the mood of the characters. The music helped to add atmosphere to our characters as well.
    The one character I found enduring was the janitor (Hie-bong Byeon) who was comical and yet creepy at times. The story is well written and full of twists and turns. I'd recommend this film for those who appreciate a good "black comedy" or dog haters...just kidding. Still it's a good film that should be rented at least once, maybe even twice.

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Critic Reviews

David Rooney
February 23, 2012
David Rooney, Variety

Click to read the article Full Review

Owen Gleiberman
September 7, 2011
Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly

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Cynthia Fuchs
May 3, 2012
Cynthia Fuchs, Philadelphia City Paper

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