Pig

Wisconsin Premiere • narrative • Iran • 2018 • DCP • Farsi with English subtitles • 108 MIN

section: New International Cinema

A wildly unpredictable ride that encompasses broad comedy, surreal musical numbers, and a murder mystery, it's a safe bet Pig is like no Iranian movie you’ve seen before. Endearingly pompous in his AC/DC t-shirt and bushy beard, Hassan is a blacklisted filmmaker whose misguided efforts to get his life back on track only lead to further indignities. Stuck shooting insecticide ads to make ends meet, Hassan learns that a serial killer is roaming Tehran, beheading Iran's most famous directors. It is emblematic of the film's inspired, offbeat humor that Hassan reacts to this news not with fear, but with jealousy. Lamenting that he is being overlooked by the murderer in favor of less-talented colleagues, he moans "what do they have that I don’t?" As if that weren’t enough, his celebrity mistress (A Separation star Leila Hatami) is ditching him for a rival, his senile mom pulls an antique rifle on everyone who rings her doorbell, and he seems to have acquired a rather ambitious stalker. "A wildly original art house comedy" (Godfrey Cheshire, RogerEbert.com). "Comedic and awe-inspiring… Haghighi brings it all to life with a razor-sharp comedic precision" (Richard Brody, The New Yorker). (MK)