This beautiful modern drama centers around the Wang family: Old Wang (Haoyu Yang) the pig farmer, Candy Wang (Vivian Wu) the successful beautician, and Wang Zhen (Mason Lee) the son and nephew of Old Wang and Candy respectively. Written and Directed by Cathy Yan (of Birds of Prey fame), her sharp eye can be seen from the get-go as color, contrast, intense focus techniques, and rapid-fire characterization spill onto the screen.
Despite the bombardment of color and characters, the movie is paced well, almost meandering from scene to scene as it weaves a tale that includes a disenchanted rich girl and an American ex-pat beside the struggles and exploits of the Wang family.
Dead Pigs gets its name from a discovery made by Old Wang and many other pig farmers: Something has killed their pigs. Was it the cold? Was it stress? No one knows. Old Wang (among other farmers) is in financial straits and continues down a path towards financial ruin, becoming more and more desperate as friends and family have no more money to lend. The main conflict of the film culminates as his sister, Candy, refuses to sell the family home in the face of corporate buyouts. The house serves as a stark contrast to the neighboring city. It is old, poorly lit, yet still vibrant in color and history. In many ways, Dead Pigs is a story about societal growing pains.
From beginning to end, I could not take my eyes away from Dead Pigs. Yan’s use of color and selective focus made for purely captivating visual interest whether we were Shanghai’s hottest nightclub or a pigpen. The juxtaposition of the high life and the lives of the working class, the city lit up like Vegas against the field of debris surrounding Candy Wang’s home really makes this movie pop. The characters were lively and interesting even as they simply lived their lives.
For each serious and dramatic moment, there were at least two moments that would trigger a belly laugh. It’s not your typical drama and that is its major strength. You become instantly invested in the lives and struggles of the main characters. For these and many other reasons, Dead Pigs is a highly recommended purchase.