Summary:
A part-time college professor finds himself annoyed by a perpetually yapping dog and decides to take action.
My Thoughts:
I am a huge fan of Bong Joon Ho (“Memories of Murder”, “Parasite”). I thought this movie was decent, but I didn’t love it nearly as much as (any of) his other films. I think my biggest hurdle I had to overcome with this film was that it finds humor in animal abuse, and I do not. This is a dark comedy, and I have to admit that from a filmmaking perspective it is well done, but my personal preferences kept me from enjoying this movie completely. That being said, if you can get over the hurdle of finding humor in animal abuse, there are a couple interesting interactions between characters that do come off as quite funny.
One thing that I did appreciate was Bong Joon Ho’s direction style. Even in his first film, we’re really able to see his attention to detail and his flourishes of weird humor. While I didn’t necessarily relate to Ko Yun-ju (Sung-Jae Lee) as he prowled the apartments looking for dogs to silence, I did appreciate the way that the scenes were directed: it felt like we were right there with Yun-ju, unable to ignore the unceasing yapping. His search to find the dog felt dire and desperate, and that does add a touch of humor to the film. While I didn’t care for Yun-ju, I thought Hyun-nam (Doona Bae, “The Host”) was really relatable and pretty funny. Hyun-nam’s character just wants to make a name for herself, and after a dog goes missing in the apartment, she thinks she’ll do this by solving the mystery of what has happened to the dogs. Her attitude towards this whole situation sort of reminded me of a Nancy Drew or Scooby Doo kind of character, and the irreverence with which she approaches the case also helps to add a bit of humor. Bong also is able to infuse themes of class struggle into this film in a way that doesn’t feel at all tawdry; he’s built a career around themes of class struggle, so it’s kind of cool to see that even his first film he was addressing themes so universal.
My biggest problems with this film were, as I’ve already mentioned, the animal cruelty moments, but I honestly thought the film could’ve been trimmed by fifteen minutes or so and we’d still have gotten the same story. I also don’t think that the final act really said much. When you compare this film to Bong Joon Ho’s other films, it’s easy to see his growth, and that should be a compliment. With each film, he has really shown improvement; this movie isn’t bad, but it’s certainly the least interesting film he’s made.
Verdict:
“Barking Dogs Never Bite” is not a bad film, in fact, it does a lot of things right in terms of crafting a story and characters, and it shows the inklings of a director that would go on to make some undeniably great films. If you’re looking for a place to start watching Bong Joon Ho movies, I certainly wouldn’t start here. Start with “Parasite”, “Mother”, or “Memories of Murder”- those are his best, in my opinion.
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