Barking Dogs Never Bite

Date of release: November 29, 2001

Story / Synopsis:

Seven days of adventure in an apartment building.

A quiet middle-class apartment is the scene. Yoon-ju is a college lecturer with plenty of time on his hands. He gets annoyed at the sound of barking and tries to find out where it's coming from. By coincidence, he discovers a dog in front of his neighbor's door. He feels instinctively that it was the culprit and kidnaps the dog to lock it in the basement.

On another front, Hyun-nam, a secretary in the apartment superintendent's office, is bored to tears with her uneventful life. The same day, she is passing the time with a crossword puzzle when a little girl comes in with a notice for a lost dog. Hyun-nam suddenly animated, starts putting up notices all over the neighborhood without being asked.

However, more and more dogs start disappearing. Then one day, Hyun-nam gets a pair of binoculars from her friend at a local store. She goes up on the apartment roof and witnesses a man killing a dog on the rooftop across from her...

Other Information:

The idea of this film came from a childhood memory. I remember seeing an old man living with a working couple and imagined what would happen if he caught all the neighborhood dogs and ate them like he did in the country. With "Barking Dogs Never Bite", I wanted to take everyday material and make a film more intriguing and interesting than a genre film. I didn't want to dig up everyday troubles and sorrow to expose cruelty, but rather, I wanted to describe everyday life in a warm and engaging manner to make a 'recreational film with everyday material'.

"Barking Dogs Never Bite" wins The International Film Critics Federation Award (FIPRESCI) in the 25th Hong Kong International Film Festival.

The Making of Barking Dogs Never Bite (Part 1)

The Making of Barking Dogs Never Bite (Part 2)

The Making of Barking Dogs Never Bite (Part 3)

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