Already in his feature debut, Bong Joon-Ho tempered a dire assessment of human nature with a surprising frivolity. And he tested this approach with a provocative premise: annoyed by a barking dog living somewhere in his apartment complex, a struggling academic (Ko Yung-ju) sets out to rid himself of the animal, with a series of darkly comic consequences. Barking Dogs Never Bite is hard to watch—though early onscreen text claims “no animals were harmed in the making of this film”—yet the movie breezes along on a tinkling jazz score, clever edits, and playful performances. (Byung Hee-Bong is especially good as a cheerful janitor whose sunniness comes from a stomach-churning source.) With an ensemble cast and an array of thematic concerns—including economic desperation, which would become a Bong hallmark—Barking Dogs Never Bite is a bit scattershot. Yet it nevertheless announced a huge talent in service of a particularly idiosyncratic vision, something like a Kubrick who hasn’t entirely given up hope.
(3/5/2025)
