''In China They Eat Dogs'' ( da, I Kina spiser de hunde) is a 1999 Danish

action comedy Action comedy is a genre that combines aspects of action and comedy. The genre is most prevalent in film with action comedy films, though several TV series fit this genre. Film The action comedy film is a film genre that combines aspects of actio ...

film directed by

Lasse Spang Olsen Lasse Spang Olsen (born 23 April 1965) is a Danish filmmaker Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, starting with an initial story, idea, ...

, and starring

Kim Bodnia Kim Bodnia (born 12 April 1965) is a Danish actor, writer, and director. He became widely known for his role as police detective Martin Rohde in the Scandinavian crime drama series '' The Bridge''. He became internationally known for his lead role ...

, and

Dejan Čukić Dejan Čukić ( sr-Cyrl, Дејан Чукић; born 25 November 1966) is a Serbs of Montenegro, Serbian-Denmark, Danish actor. He appeared in the Kurt Wallander, Wallander TV film series as Lars in ''The Ghost'', based on the novel by Henning Ma ...

Plot

Arvid (

), a bank teller, is dumped by his girlfriend for being too boring and dull. Hoping to put some excitement in his life, Arvid helps stop a robbery at the bank. The wife of the would-be bank robber tracks Arvid down and tells him her husband was robbing the bank only so he could pay for medical treatments so they could have a child. The title is a reference to an axiom Arvid's brother tells him: "In China, they eat dogs"; which makes him realize that there is no such thing as moral absolutism, and that whether something is right or wrong depends on the situation. Because of his revelation, he comes to sympathize with the bank robber. Imagining he can help the couple and prove himself to be a dangerous outlaw all at once, Arvid plots a robbery of his own bank with the help of his brother Harald (

) and some fellow wannabe criminals.

Prequel

In 2002 a prequel titled ''

Old Men in New Cars ''Old Men in New Cars'' ( da, Gamle Mænd i Nye Biler), (2002) is a Danish action comedy film directed by Lasse Spang Olsen. The movie stars Kim Bodnia, Nikolaj Lie Kaas, and Tomas Villum Jensen. It is a prequel to Olsen's 1999 comedy ''In China Th ...

'' was released. It was again directed by

, and had

reprising his role as Harald.

References

External links

* 1999 films 1999 action comedy films Danish action comedy films Films about the Serbian Mafia Films with screenplays by Anders Thomas Jensen Serbian-language films 1990s Danish-language films {{1990s-comedy-film-stub