Barking Dogs Never Bite

2000

1h 48m

Comedy

List

88%

Tomatometer

16 Reviews

76%

Audience Score

1,000+ Ratings

Frustrated with loud barking, an academic (Lee Sung-jae) wages war against dogs in his apartment building.

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Anton Bitel

Little White Lies

A mordant affair, presenting itself as wryly funny in its observations of human foibles, while in fact exposing the cruel underbelly of 'modern behaviourism'...

Rated: 4/5

Sep 18, 2020

Full Review

Ian Freer

Empire Magazine

A little rough around the edges, Barking Dogs Never Bite still delivers the blackest comedy lightened by some thrilling filmmaking... Caninophiles beware.

Rated: 4/5

Sep 17, 2020

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Peter Bradshaw

Guardian

The movie is by turns wacky, farcical and grimly realist.

Rated: 4/5

Sep 17, 2020

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Yasser Medina

Cinefilia

It's a dark comedy in which Bong, in his debut, mixes genres and uses a vast economy of aesthetic resources to draw a very sharp social observation about unemployment. [Full review in Spanish]

Rated: 7/10

Apr 6, 2021

Full Review

Amber Wilkinson

Eye for Film

Bong's film is a sprawling affair, taking place mainly in Yun-ju's apartment block, complete with a shadowy basement, with the jazzy score reflecting the way the action bounces forward and backward to unexpected places.

Rated: 3.5/5

Sep 28, 2020

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Christopher Machell

CineVue

The pleasure of Barking Dogs Never Bite is all its own, from its surreal apartment block rendered in sickly greens and distorted wide angles, to the ethical ambivalence of its protagonist's antics.

Rated: 5/5

Sep 25, 2020

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Sean S

This movie was a total surprise. The acting and writing in it was great. The quirky characters made it interesting. Korean cinema has come a long way in the last 20 years. It is definitely worth a look into. A+++

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

09/13/23

Full Review

isla s

I quite enjoyed this film, event hough I'm a dog fan - surely no dogs were genuinely killed in the ways portrayed, during the filming of this film? though I am aware of the dubious reputation of the country its set in (i.e. Korea). Its very much a quirky dark comedy, have no doubt about it. At first, it took a while for the main plot direction to become clear but once it did, the plot pace definitely sped up and I found myself feeling quite frustrated on behalf of the main character, Yun-ju. As is the case with other films by the director (Bong Joon-ho), this film is very much set in an urban setting and there's quite a claustrophobic feel to it, with people seemingly in a maze of apartments at times. Its not just a dark comedy of sorts but its also pretty dark in terms of lighting (or the lack thereof) throughout. I thought it was interesting how, in this film anyway, the female characters seem to have more of a say about things, certainly more than Yun-ju has. There is something of a poignancy to this film, though as I say it won't appeal to everyone by any means. Content wise, there's some strong language and obviously upsetting scenes hinted at, rather than explicitly shown as such. This film dates from 2000 and its a good film to see if your interested in the earlier work of Parasite and Snowpiercer director Bon Joon-ho, I'd say, so yes, I'd recommend it. Quirky is probably the best term I can think of to describe it - there's even jazz music (think lift music) played in the background at various times which made me smirk a bit, for the randomness of it.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Morgan D

Definitely a testament of what's to come for Bong Joon-ho with his usual pitch-black humor and good direction.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

04/29/22

Full Review

Audience Member

IMDB says this is a comedy. Maybe something was lost in translation because I didn't laugh once or find anything interesting in this movie. The editing, usage of shots and camera work feels like that of a first time director that is trying to show eveybody that he understands cinema, but it's distracting and doesn't help the story being told in any way. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone, well maybe just "Cinema lovers" that love to say they have seen and loved every Bong Joon-ho movie, even if this movie is insufferable and feels like it is 4 hours long.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

02/27/23

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Audience Member

I guess throwing dogs of a building just doesn't excite me. No, but seriously, from a writer/director's point of view, there are a lot of great technical moments, but overall the film is a letdown, especially coming from the great Bong Joon-ho.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/10/23

Full Review

Audience Member

One of the great things about Bong Joon Ho is how his films can change tones at the drop of a hat. This film maintains itself fairly consistent as a dark comedy, and it works just as well as his others. As a whole, the film is in fact tighter for it. Comedy about eating and killing dogs is pretty rare, especially in US films, so seeing a film that traffics heavily in it is a unique experience. The arc of the story is satisfying too.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/18/23

Full Review

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Bong Joon Ho

Director

Lee Sung-jae

Yun-ju

Bae Doo-na

Hyeon-nam

Byun Hee-bong

Actor

Bong Joon Ho

Writer

Tae-woong Derek Son

Writer

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Synopsis

Frustrated with loud barking, an academic (Lee Sung-jae) wages war against dogs in his apartment building.

Director: Bong Joon Ho
Screenwriter: Bong Joon Ho, Tae-woong Derek Son, Song Ji-ho
Production Co: CJ Entertainment, Uno Films, Cinema Service
Genre: Comedy
Original Language: Korean
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 1, 2011
Runtime: 1h 48m

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