Flandersui gae (2000)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Joon-ho Bong

Writers:

Joon-ho Bong (writer)
Ji-ho Song (writer)

Release Date:

19 February 2000 (South Korea)

Genre:

Comedy | Horror

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Black Comedy

Awards:

3 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

Sung-jae Lee	...	Yun-ju
Du-na Bae	...	Hyeon-nam
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Hie-bong Byeon
Ho-jung Kim
Roe-ha Kim

Also Known As:

A Higher Animal (South Korea) (literal English title)
Barking Dogs Never Bite (International: English title)
Flanders' Dog (literal English title)

Runtime:

Hong Kong:106 min | Argentina:106 min

Country:

South Korea

Language:

Korean

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Certification:

South Korea:12 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Hong Kong:IIA

Company:

Cinema Service

Trivia:

Yun Ju's Apartment is the same apartment of the director, Bong Joon-ho.

Movie Connections:

Features Palwolui Christmas (1998)

A ten plus comedy noir about zero sum lives

This is something of a rarity, a indie Korean film. It's also Joon-ho Bong's directorial debut. It's brilliant. Slow, but impeccably paced and broadly intermixed with multiple levels of wonderful comedy, acting, atmosphere (a kind of existential (and cement) wasteland), and directing. Be warned. Pet lovers are going to be shocked, and maybe outraged. But really, don't take this too literally, Joon-ho Bong knows he is playing with your sensibilities and he knows that you know it (or you should know it by now, if you have been watching film, tv, and advertising for your entire life). This is real cinematic virtuosity.

The promotion for this film compared it to American Beauty and that was a somewhat surprising but very apt comparison. American Beauty would be a fine double bill with this. But, if you have not seen any other Korean films you should give some a try. I saw this as part of a festival with JSA (Joint Security Area), The Isle and some others, but those two were very good and would also be good for a double bill. A little farther afield might be Tsai Ming Liang's the HOLE, or even farther, (and certainly not for the fainthearted) Go Go Second Time Virgin by Kosi Wakamatsu. Both intense looks at life in barren modern times and barren apartment complexes.