PIG

US, 2021, 91 minutes, Colour.

Nicolas Cage, Alex Wolfe, Adam Arkin.

Directed by Michael Sarnoski.

Pig is certainly an arresting title. It may also be off-putting. Which would be a pity because, while there is a pig in the central role, there is so much more in this personal drama.

We are introduced to a rather bedraggled recluse, Robin, living out in the sticks for about 10 years, withdrawn from the world, surviving on basics, going out into the woods searching for truffles, relying on his peak. Robin has great affection for the peak – and is distraught when, early in the film, the pig it is stolen and disappears.

Even that might not be an enticing film opening. But, there is Nicolas cage is Robin, long unwashed hair, the oldest of clothes, living a basic life, in the company of his peak. He does have one outside contact, a young man, A mere (Alex Wolfe) who comes every Thursday to pick up the trouble is to take them to Portland restaurants.

The food motif continues right throughout the film, three chapters with headings describing meals, the discovery of Robin’s past life as a master chef, visits to restaurants and discussions about cooking… And, the final chapter, a particularly fine meal where Robin draws on his chef’s talent.

Which means then that this is a portrait of Robin, one of Nicolas Cage’s most serious and best performances. Robin determines to find his pig and enlists Amir’s help. This involves a number of visits to strange characters in Portland, including a former associate who runs brutal competitions in a basement under the town square, a Motley group of men betting on the capacity for endurance we are willing victims are timed as they are sadistically brutalised. Which happens to Robin, willingly. He was injured in the occasion when the pig was stolen but now he has a bashed face, looking unwashed (and he does go throughout the film without washing his face until the end). He is a vagrant bedraggled victim.

There are quite a number of sequences, seemingly incidental but revealing Robin, especially when he and you go to a fashionable restaurant, encounter the chef who recognises him, claims acquaintance from the past, but Robin, as in many cases, seems to have a photographic memory and unmasks the chef and his humble and inefficient origins.

But, the main drama is Robin’s meeting up with Amir’s father, friends from the past, revelations about their families, the death of wives, Robin and his grief. And, so, the final dinner is meant to be an opportunity, not of vengeance, but of honesty, possibilities for pardon, possibilities for hope.

As Robin goes through this process, his pig stolen, his being brutalised, his having to read-live his past, he is finally able to accept his life’s experience, his wife’s death, and listening to her on a cassette that for 10 years he has not been able to listen to, even as he puts it in the player.

Pig is one of the most interesting films of 2021.

1. The blunt title? Robin and his pig, at home, the bond, searching for the truffles? The home routines? The pig stolen? The search for the pig? Dead, grief? And Robin identifying his relationship with the pig with that of mourning for his dead wife?
2. The Oregon woods, the isolated heart, the forest, the truffles? The heart and the interiors? The visit to the city, offices, restaurants? The musical score?
3. The three chapters for the film, the meals, the final meal for Darius?
4. The film is a portrait of Robin? Nicolas Cage’s performance? His appearance, vagrant, neglected, and washed? His injuries? Continuing through the film as wounded and unwashed? Taciturn personality? 10 years in the woods? His wife, the tape, not listening to it until the end? The revelation that he was a chef, his great reputation?
5. The contact with a mere, the weekly pickup of the truffles? Some contact with people? Yet Robin brusque with a mere? Amir and his father, dependence, alienation?
6. Night, the stealing of the pig, Robin and his search, finding the culprits, their wounding him, his threats – but not seeking revenge?
7. Teaming up with a mere, the visit to the city? Looking at Portland and its views through Robin’s eyes? The brutal encounter, his being wounded? Going to the diner, the waitresses, food?
8. Tracking down Edgar, his knowledge of the illegal fights under the square? The challenge to Edgar, going for the fights, the vicious brutality, the men, the restaurant industry, drugs, the beatings? The timing? Robin, surviving, the money?
9. The visit to the restaurant, the maitre d’, his recognising Robin, his version of his past, Robin and his detailed memory, exposing the man and his inefficiencies from the past?
10. The effect on Amir, accompanying Robin, learning, apprehensive?
11. Amir and his father, the past connection with Robin? Families? Wives? Illnesses and death?
12. The confrontation with Darius, memories, arguments, Darius and his success, money, wanting the pig, wanting the truffles? The news of the peak was dead?
13. Robin and his demands on Darius, getting Amir to get the bottle of wine, preparing the dinner, Darius and eating the meal? Breaking down?
14. The surfacing of the truth, the relationship between the two men, the wives, grief? Robin and his becoming a recluse? Darius and business?
15. The bond between Robin and a mere, the experience for a mere and his learning? Robin returning home, his being able to listen to his wife’s tape?
16. Grief, denial, consequences, confrontation, new awareness, acceptance?