Barking Dogs Never Bite DVD Review

Unable to secure steady employment and henpecked by a dominant pregnant girlfriend who is earning the family income, Yun-ju reaches his breaking point when his sulking is disturbed by the piercing barking of a neighbor’s dog.  Yun ju does what any rational person would and immediately sets off to kill the offending creature.  He quickly locates a dog that looks guilty but is thwarted several different times in his efforts, so he has get more and more creative in order to win.  Meanwhile, daydreamer Hyeon-nam, who works in the maintenance office is helping a small girl post flyers for her missing dog.  Things keep getting worse for Yun Jin as he prepares to brib the director for the college he substitutes at when  a full time Professor position opens up.  Hyeon-nam, who witnesses a crime, becomes obsessed with finding the little girl’s dog, even if it costs her her job, which she really doesn’t enjoy anyway.

We meet a few other unique characters, such as an old janitor with a pension for canine cusine and Hyeon-nam’s best friend, who works in her Aunt’s small shop and passes the time stealing cigarettes and smoking on the roof.  In my favorite setup in the movie, Hyeon Nam and her friend are having a conversation on the phone, while a little girl in the back of the store is making copies.  While the conversation continues we see the girl exit and then goes to Hyeon’s office to get permission to post her flyers while the two continue talking.  These sort of moments are trademark for Bong Joon and are what made Barking Dogs Never Bite as good of a movie as it is.

Even in this debut movie, Bong Joon shows a fantastic eye for cinematography.  From scenes of rooftop chases where we see the imagined cheering crowds throwing confetti as Hyeon Nam runs by to rescue a would be dog meal from a homeless man to the draw back shots of a chase down the corridors of a sprawling apartment complex, the cinematography in this movie is memorable.  It is coupled with a minimal jazz inspired soundtrack that jells perfectly. 

Barking Dogs Never Bite is a unique movie that is hard to pidgeon hole into a particular genre. There are a lot of dark comedic elements to I found it to be more of a Drama the majority of the time. The character contrast between Yun-Ju and Hyeon-nam at first seems black and white but by the end it blurs a bit as we see the layers of their characters peeled back past the obvious angry henpecked man and daydreamer. Lee Sung-jae and Bae Du-na are exceptional in their performances, as they interact with each other, oblivious of all of the factors that caused their meeting.

There is a nice assortment of extras included in this release, starting with an interview with Bae Doo-Na that goes about 12 minutes. Bae discusses a variety of topics including her reaction to the script and portraying Hyeon-nam. The most interesting part of the interview for me was when she talked about probably her best known role as the evil Eun-suh in The Ring Virus. Next is a well done storyboard comparison piece that showed the sketches and notes from various parts of the film synced up to the finished take. This one also lasted a little over 10 minutes. There is an interesting highlights montage included as well that sort of shrinks the movie down to about 12 minutes. Finally, an international trailer is available for viewing.

I really enjoyed this quirky look at life in a lower income Korean apartment complex. Bong Joon Ho drops in some beautiful cinematography throughout the movie that helps to keep it flowing. It is a movie that is definitely not for everyone, especially dog lovers but if you like Korean Cinema and/or eye candy cinematography, you should definitely give Barking Dogs Never Bite a chance and check back for my review of Bong Joon’s newest movie, Mother.

Recommended for those who share my twisted taste in movies.

Special Features:

• Interview with Actress Bae Doo-na
• Storyboard and Film Comparison
• Barking Dogs Never Bite Highlight Montage
• International Trailer

Barking Dogs Never Bite is available on DVD as of July 20, courtesy of Magnolia Home Entertainment.