Dog Bite Dog (DVD) (Japan Version) DVD Region 2

The film begins as a Cambodian assassin named Pang (Edison Chen) arrives in Hong Kong to kill the wife of a top judge. The deed done, he finds himself pursued by the police, including Way (Sam Lee), a detective who is clearly suffering from his own mental problems. Alone and unable to speak the language, Pang fights back like a trapped animal, killing most of Way's team and hiding in the only place he feels comfortable, a rubbish dump where he meets a young girl (Pei Wai Ying) held prisoner by her abusive father. Meanwhile, Way's desire for revenge pushes him over the edge and casting aside the shackles of his job he hunts Pang down, leading the two men into a series of desperate and increasingly violent confrontations.

Dog Bite Dog is relentless from its opening scenes, which unfold with some shocking violence that immediately goes against viewer expectations and sets the mood for what is to come. Although the plot is simple, it provides director Cheang with a perfect framework for an exploration of man as an animal, allowing ample opportunities for the characters to descend further and further into hell as they gradually strip each other of their humanity. Whilst this is a theme which has been tackled before, for example in Jet Li's Danny the Dog, it is dealt with here in a far more realistic manner, throwing a harsh though all too believable light on just how far people will go to survive, and how hatred and revenge can consume and transform the soul.

Clearly, this is a film without heroes of any kind, with neither protagonist following any kind of redemptive path, and though both do have tragic histories, Soi does not dwell upon these in sentimental fashion. There are a few strangely touching moments scattered throughout, mostly involving Pang's truly wretched girlfriend, though more than anything these serve to add a touch of tragedy, which makes the ensuing carnage all the more effective. Thankfully, both Chen and Lee are both excellent in their roles, successfully overcoming their usual heartthrob and comic images and adding a vital layer of depth to their characters.

The film is exceedingly brutal, and certainly earns its category III rating. Fittingly, there is little in the way of gunplay or flashy martial arts, with most of the violence coming as the characters beat, bludgeon and even bite each other to death, with Soi sparing none of the grisly details. Even during its quieter moments, of which there are few, the film is horribly tense, with a sense of barely contained savagery that the viewer knows all too well could erupt at any moment. This gives the proceedings an air of unpredictability, forcing the viewer to share the protagonists's feelings of desperation and paranoia.

Cheang's direction is excellent, portraying Hong Kong as a filth-strewn wasteland, employing a dull, grey palette that robs the city of its usual brash vibrancy and gives it the feeling of a long neglected tomb. Indeed, the film as a whole has a funerary air, an impression helped by the sombre choral soundtrack. With so much of it taking place in rubbish dumps or trash-filled back alleys, there are times when the viewer can almost smell the film, adding another level of unpleasant realism. Cheang directs with a naturalistic approach, with a great use of light and shadow, and this too serves well to make the action horribly convincing.

As a result, Dog Bite Dog is certainly not a film for the faint of heart, or those expecting a traditional Hong Kong police thriller. Pulling no punches and offering no false hopes, it stands as a bold and bloody film which grabs the viewer by the throat right from the start and keeps on choking even after the credits have rolled, making it a must see for all fans of challenging cinema.

by James Mudge - BeyondHollywood.com

Opposing the assassin (Chen's character is never named) is Wai (Sam Lee), a young detective with a decidedly disagreeable attitude. Wai clashes with his superior officer (Eddie Cheung Siu Fai) over his sullen and insubordinate attitude, before beginning his pursuit of the assassin -- who we'll call Ed, simply for discussion's sake. After checking out the crime scene, Wai runs into Ed, who leads him into a local dai pai dong (or open-air restaurant) and proceeds to demonstrate his killer instinct by offing a pile of people. The display of casual brutality incenses Wai, and once Ed is on the loose, Wai begins to become unhinged in his pursuit. Leaving the rest of the cops (including Lam Suet and Lai Yiu Cheung) far behind, Wai sinks even lower in his obsessive chase, brutalizing informants, bartering information for drugs, and basically acting like a world class lout. After a while, the question must be asked: who's worse, the killer or the cop?

Probably the killer, though the filmmakers blur the line so forcibly that they practically leave chafe marks on the celluloid. Dog Bite Dog is thematically solid, and proffers a worldview that's so pessimistic and depressing that it might cause emotional scarring. Unlike many celebrated Hong Kong crime thrillers, where there's "heroism" between the bullet holes and head trauma, Dog Bite Dog is full of ugly, morally bankrupt people who listen to their conscience only when it's too late -- or perhaps never at all. Ed leaves a truckload of bodies in his wake, never bothering to hesitate when pulling the trigger or plunging in the knife. At least he's humanized in his two relationships, 1) with his Cambodian "father", who raised him via brutal bare-fisted death matches, and 2) with an illegal Mainland immigrant (newcomer Pei Pei), who's sexually abused and lives on a putrid landfill. Ed rescues her from her sordid lifestyle and agrees to bring her with him back to Cambodia after she demonstrates pure-hearted devotion to her ultraviolent savior. She'll even turn on the cops who oppose Ed, and will risk life, limb, and possible gangrene to be with him. If it weren't so sick, it might almost be sweet.

But hey, that's the world of Dog Bite Dog, where everything just sucks. Director Cheang Pou Soi seems to have found his calling with depressing thrillers that make modern life seem like reason enough to put a bullet in your brain. His last film, Home Sweet Home, featured a revenge-seeking squatter who terrorized a housing estate because it was built on the remains of her dead family. In that film, signing the wrong rental agreement could lead to unexpected terror and the loss of both husband and child -- and it's all because society is cruel, unfeeling, and plays no favorites when it chooses to victimize you. In Dog Bite Dog, everyone is the victim and they all strike back by becoming perpetrators. Even the righteous cops aren't so hot; some hold damning secrets, and others will eventually resort to questionable methods because, dammit, they're pissed off. Dog Bite Dog is an unforgiving portrait of life as Hell, where justice is nonexistent and even the sympathetic characters start to act like monsters. Basically, this is the most unhappy time you'll have at the movies this year.

For the viewer, however, unhappy isn't necessarily bad. Dog Bite Dog is so dark and unforgiving that it's bound to find fans. Brutality is only the tip of the iceberg for Dog Bite Dog, which earns its Category III rating thanks to copious violence and an intensity that can only be called unrelenting. Cheang Pou Soi stages things with stark cinematic flair, going for moments of hair-raising stillness before laying into the audience full force with a gunshot, clubbing, or sudden smackdown. Dog Bite Dog is a movie where characters off each other at the drop of a hat, and Cheang creates admirable atmosphere. This is an ugly/gorgeous film that creates beauty out of disgusting images, e.g. Edison Chen gorging himself on dim sum before offing someone, or a violent throwdown in a garbage-strewn landfill. The sound guys earn their keep here; aside from the feral sounds permeating certain scenes, the violence is almost always punctuated by eardrum-shattering sound. If nothing else, this is a film that will keep you awake.

However, Dog Bite Dog is also a film that could prove repugnant to some. The film's depiction of humanity is so unrelentingly pessimistic that some people may end up classifying it as completely without redeeming value. Honestly, those people may be right. Dog Bite Dog's darkness will undoubtedly be appealing to many cinema cultists because it's the type of movie that simply screams, "Not for the whole family!" It's everything Walt Disney wants no part of, and that anti-fuzzy attitude earns automatic cred with people who treat Category III as a brand name, and not just a rating. Honestly, those people are right too. Dog Bite Dog earns its blood-spattered wings readily, and delivers a hardcore thrill ride that's most definitely felt. That feeling may be akin to a rat chewing its way out of your stomach, but it's definitely there. If that sounds unappealing to you, then maybe a repeat viewing of Nine Girls and a Ghost is just your thing.

Still, Cheang and company go too far with their ending, which takes "over the top" and ditches if for "too much". For a majority of the film's running time, the dog-eat-dog themes are presented full-force like some sort of unhappy sociology course, but at the end we get a final "circle of life" natural history lesson that takes the film's consistent darkness and trades it in for something we might watch on The Discovery Channel. It's further than Cheang Pou Soi had to go; sometimes meaning can occur without going that extra step, but Cheang covers a few football fields with the film's climax. Some advice to Cheang Pou Soi, Wong Ching Po, the Pang Brothers, and other filmmakers determined to have the last word: sometimes less can be more.

But what about the elephant in the room? We're talking about the million dollar question on the lips of the people who hated Gen-Y Cops and the people who loved it, too. If you're asking, "How was Edison Chen?", then the answer is: not bad at all. He may be upstaged by Sam Lee and Lam Ka Wah (as Wai's father), but Edison Chen turns in range-busting work in Dog Bite Dog. He's convincingly psychotic, and attacks the role admirably. Seeing one of Hong Kong Cinema's most infamous pretty boys get nasty is probably reason enough to check out Dog Bite Dog. Chen's work isn't compensation for Gen-Y Cops, but at the very least it's a solid down payment. Overall, Dog Bite Dog is the perfect poison pill for Hello Kitty haters, and delivers a harrowing ride of violence, brutality, and full force thematic excess. It's all a bit much, but the film's starving genre-specific audience will undoubtedly be tickled pink -- if not a dark crimson red. As the saying goes, you know who you are.

by Kozo - LoveHKFilm.com