Barking Dogs Never Bite (2000)
"Flandersui gae" (original title)

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

Director:

Joon-ho Bong

Writers:

Joon-ho Bong, Ji-ho Song,

Stars:

Sung-jae Lee, Doona Bae, Hie-bong Byeon

3 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Sung-jae Lee	...	Yun-ju
Doona Bae	...	Hyeon-nam
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Hie-bong Byeon	...	Janitor
Su-hee Go	...	Jang-Mi
Ho-jung Kim	...	Eun-Sil Bae
Roe-ha Kim
Jeong-seon Seong

Storyline

The disconnections of urban life. Yun-ju is diffident, almost without affect; his wife is pregnant, and he's wonders if he should bribe the dean to secure a professorship. He's also bothered by a yapping dog that disturbs him in the large block of flats where he lives. Hyeon-nam is equally disengaged; she's a bookkeeper at same block of flats, animated only when she learns of a lost dog. Over the course of a few weeks, three dogs in the building go missing - Yun-ju and Hyeon-nam have a connection to each. So might a janitor. Is it a man-eat-dog world? Is there any cure for this ennui? Can anyone connect?

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Plot Keywords:

dog | yapping dog | janitor | lost dog | bribe | 

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Genres:

Comedy

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Details

Country:

South Korea

Language:

Korean

Release Date:

19 February 2000 (South Korea)

Also Known As:

Barking Dogs Never Bite

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cinema Service, Uno Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

110 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Originally the role of Yun-ju was designed for another actor who Joon-ho Bong was drawn to while working on the film Motel Seoninjang. But when it came to shooting the film, the actor who Bong referred to as "P", disappeared completely and he ended up casting Sung-jae Lee in the role.

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Connections

Features Christmas in August (1998)

User Reviews

A comedy out of the ordinary

A man is annoyed by a dog barking in his apartment building and he decides to take action.

Wow, this was an rare experience. Comedies usually work because they live up to stereotypes that you recognize, this is very far from that brainless type of comedy. Because of its triviality and its ability to surprise this is highly intelligent and close to reality at the same time, and when its close to reality it doesn't take much absurdity to make it funny.

All the actors in this did a good job. Bae Du-na is gorgeous, the janitor doing a job similar to what he did in 'Suchwiin Bulmyeong' and the pregnant wife very dominating. Bong Joon-ho is one to watch.

Judging by some of the others experience of the movie it seems like they live up to stereotypes themselves. If you are offended by this, try reading some newspapers.