In China They Eat Dogs

In China They Eat Dogs

In China They Eat Dogs

In China They Eat Dogs

Moviecut—In China They Eat Dogs

Let's face it: Two out of three times you leave the theatre thinking 'Man! They put one of Hollywood's top-100 directors in the chair, paid two fine actors 20 million each, spent another 50 million on special effects, and what kind of script did they choose? One written by a ten-year-old! How could 486 people have been involved in this production and not one notice the holes the size of football fields in the storyline? This time, for once, it's the other way round. Anders Thomas Jensen's script is sheer genius. Lasse Spang Olsen may have worked in the film industry most of his life (more or less monopolising the stuntman business in Denmark), and Kim Bodnia may call him `the only director I've worked with who actually makes people feel good about their performance on set', but his direction is still amateurish. I haven't contributed anything to the goofs page on this film, because the technical execution of it is so blatantly flawed that I wouldn't know where to start. Maybe Spang Olsen thinks he's the only one who will notice (since he's a 'professional'). So Lars von Trier is a self-centred neurotic, and Ole Bornedal is a nitpicking ingrate (or at least he was before he was hit by parenthood). But they make great movies. Bornedal's remake of Nightwatch was bound to be a failure. Why mess with perfection? (Besides, Josh Brolin doesn't have one tenth of Kim Bodnia's charisma). But with 'I Kina Spiser De Hunde', I just can't wait for the remake!

Was really looking forward to this as I'm a huge fan of Scandinavian dark comedies but this was more like a Dogme 95 manifesto style student film project

I never thought Denmark could make any good movies before I saw this one,and after that I have noticed a few other Danish titles that also are great.This movie have hardcore action mixed together with some twisted humor and of course great acting performances.This movie is when I first discovered Kim Bodnia,and what a great actor he is.I know now that when I see his name on a movie,I know the movie is great.

Action films are not the most prominent type of Nordic cinema, but not entirely unheard of either. A good example is the Danish black comedy In China They Eat Dogs that was eventually followed by a prequel Old Men in New Cars in 2002. The story deals with Arvid Blixen (Dejan Cukic), a mild-mannered bank clerk who is dumped by his girlfriend for being too boring. After unexpectedly preventing a bank robbery, he comes to re-evaluate his uneventful life and decides that he wants to be a criminal instead to help out the robber Franz (Peter Gantzler) whom he inadvertently sent to prison. With the help of his ruthless restaurant owner brother Harald (Kim Bodnia), his cooks Martin and Peter (Nikolaj Lie Kaas and Tomas Villum Jensen) and the hapless kitchen assistant Vuk (Brian Patterson), Arvid gets involved in a spectacular downward spiral of crime, after which nothing will be the same again. The movie doesn't allow itself to be bound by the limitations of realism and maintains a very dark comedic mood throughout. A lot of the appeal comes from the unusual nature of the characters: the gang members are not sharp-tongued gangsters like in many regular heist films, but instead rather shy and easily manipulated. Awkward silences take the place of clever insults and snappy comebacks - the chemistry between the team burns quietly. The comical Martin and Peter, the unlucky, naive Vuk and the timid Arvid end up in increasingly uncontrollable situations where bodies start piling up and the direction of things slips out of control but everything is taken with confused Nordic reservedness, adding up to a pretty unique and quietly funny story. Interspersed with the main scenes are clips of a foreigner named Richard (Lester Wiese) narrating the story to a bartender (Jesper Christensen); the story lines are tied together in the bizarre supernatural ending that nevertheless oddly manages to fit in the film's casual state of mind effortlessly. The action scenes are well created, especially the epic armoured van robbery, and the surprisingly brutal violence is only softened by the politically incorrect dark humour bubbling under the surface. The title"In China They Eat Dogs" is related to the theme of the relativity of morals; the will of a timid man wanting to be bold and true to himself in the midst of unpredictable twists of life is not left unrewarded at the end, but since everything is seen through thick satirical glasses, nothing can be taken too literally. To sum up, the movie successfully plays with the conventions of crime cinema and moral expectations of the audience, creating an enjoyable little movie that is both over-the-top and down-to-earth at the same time.

I caught this film on TV when there was nothing else on. Otherwise I probably wouldn't have lasted for the full running time. Of course I could have done something useful instead. What can I say... Anyways, this film contains everything that has been used to death in any Tarantino movie. Politically incorrect characters (not a bad thing in general but if there is no reason for it other than being non-pc it's simply stupid - so I'm pretty sure Eli Roth loves this film), crimes gone wrong, "funny" violence, explosions and gun fights. There is not one original idea in this film. The action sequences are particularly disappointing. The camera-work is very amateurish and the action is so over the top that it's neither funny nor exciting. It's just annoying. The amateurish look might be what the director wanted but his reasons for this I can't comprehend. If you have seen the ending you will probably agree that it is incredibly stupid and insulting. And it's not just insulting your intelligence. To sum it up this film is simply redundant. I have seen worse but I see much better and smarter entertainment on any given day. But if you think Tarantino is a god and if you like Eli Roth movies the style and "humor" of this movie might appeal to you.

Tarantinoesque black comedy has strong relations to "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" but doesn't share this movie's elegance and wittiness. Instead it gets carried away in a grotesque blood frenzy which at a certain point stops being funny and starts to be pretty disturbing. It has its moments but is basically rather unoriginal and has a certain wannabe-feel to it.