“Pig” alludes banality with a riveting, surprising story with intelligent writing thanks to writer/director Henry Barrial. Also, you get a fine performance from actor Rudolf Martin. Recommended!
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DVD TITLE: Pig
DATE OF FILM RELEASE: 2011
DURATION: 90 Minutes
DVD INFORMATION: Color, 1:78:1, Stereo, English
COMPANY: Horizon Movies
RATED: NOT RATED
RELEASE DATE: March 11, 2014
Directed by Henry Barrial
Written by Henry Barrial
Producer: Mark Stolaroff
Co-Producer: Alexander Burke
Cinematography by Collin Brink
Edited by Eric Strand
Casting by Alison B. Buck
Production Design by Katie Abiad
Art Direction by Jem Eisner
Costume Design by Anna Bjornsdotter
Starring:
Rudolf Martin as Man
Heather Ankeny as Isabel
Keith Diamond as Manny Elder
Ines Dali as Anouk
PIG is a mind-bending sci-fi thriller in the tradition of Memento, “a riveting adventure of confusion and identity” (Cleveland Plain-Dealer). The Desert Star Weekly called it “a brilliant sci-fi thriller…the most provocative film I saw at the Palm Springs Int’l. Film Festival.” “An impeccably crafted indie gem that genre fans need to see” (CultCuts Magazine). The film was inspired by Ray Kurzweil’s book The Singularity Is Near.
From filmmaker and screenwriter Henry Barrial comes the sci-fi thriller “Pig” starring Rudolf Martin (“Swordfish”, “Bedazzled”, “NCIS), Heather Ankeny, Keith Diamond and Ines Dali.
Inspired by Ray Kurzweil’s book “The Singularity is Near” and an actual story about a CIA imprisonment of a German citizen who was “renditioned”, the low budget film would go on to receive award and nominations at various film festivals including “Best Film” at the London Sci-Fi Film Festival.
And now “Pig” will be released on DVD courtesy of Horizon Movies in March 2014.
“Pig” begins with a man reading a statement. We then see the man (portrayed by Rudolf Martin) walking through a desert with his hands tied behind his back, trying to break free by cutting his rope on a rock.  When he wakes up, he has no memories of his past and later awakens inside the home of a woman named Isabel (portrayed by Heather Ankeny) and her young son, who had found him in the desert and saved him. He begins to have flashbacks but are not sure what they mean.
Without any memories of his past, the man tries to uncover his identity with no clue but with a name written in his pocket. And through his clues, he goes back to Los Angeles to meet with people who knew him. But as he starts to look for answers of why he is fluent in German, why was he taken to the desert and tied up but try to understand who the woman and boy in his dreams are.
But the more the man starts to research his life, he discovers something shocking about his true identity and his past.
VIDEO & AUDIO:
“Pig” is presented in 1:78:1. For a low-budget film, the editing and cinematography for this indie film was shot very well. Outdoor scenes look good on DVD. Picture quality for the most part is good, dialogue is presented in stereo and is clear.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
“Pig” comes with the following special features:
- Audio Commentary – Featuring audio commentary by Henry Barrial, producer Mark Stolaroff and co-producer Alex Cutler.
- Deleted Scenes – (37:58) Deleted scenes from “Pig”.
- Kickstarter Video – (5:46) A plug for “Pig” on Kickstarter.
- Lonely Boy Video – (1:55) A video that was posted on YouTube.
- Nashville Film Festival Video – (1:22) A short video featuring the pre-screening of “Pig”.
- Nashville Film Festival Q&A – (13:59) The post-screening Q&A for “Pig” at the Nashville Film Festival.
- Sci-Fi London Q&A – (30:42) The post-screening Q&A at the Sci-Fi London Film Festival.
- Theatrical Trailers – (3:13) Theatrical trailers for “Pig”.
“Pig” is a for the most part a low-budget indie film.
The good news is that it doesn’t look like a low-budget indie-film and features a fascinating storyline with a surprising ending that not only is logical, but also a technology that may be refined in the near future.
With that beings said, just the mention of technology is going to confuse people, so let’s not go there. Let’s focus on this intriguing storyline written and directed by Henry Barrial.
The storyline which seems clean cut about a man searching for his identity is rather fascinating as the more he digs into his life, the more he finds himself surprised that he has no memories of anything related to his past.
Why does he dream of a woman and a child? Why can he speak fluent German? But why would someone tie him up and put him in the middle of a desert to die?
Was someone trying to kill him? Did he do something wrong?
This is a film that throws out a lot of questions about this man? A man who has only a single clue to start his research into his past, the more he discovers bit-by-bit about himself, he is not too thrilled with how people perceived him.
He may be a different person now? But what about his past that could have made people see him so negatively?
And the more the man goes to learn about his past, what he discovers is something so surprising, that I can’t mention really anything, but the fact that science will play a part in the final minutes of “Pig”.
A fascinating concept, it’s all I can mention without spoiling the film. But the film is riveting and the fact that the film was created on a low-budget is quite surprising, considering how well this film was edited and acted.
Actor Rudolf Martin may be used to playing the bad guy in feature films, but for “Pig”, it’s good to see him play a different type of role. Part of you feel that this guy is a bad guy or something tragic happened in his past, something bad, in order for him to be left in the middle of a desert with his hands tied behind his back.
As for the DVD, picture quality is good as one can expect on DVD, but the positive aspect is the film was shot outdoors and the film was well-lit, so picture quality was good. Stereo soundtrack was understandable and clear. As for special features, there are a good number of them including two Q&A tracks and an audio commentary.
“Pig” alludes banality with a riveting, surprising story with intelligent writing thanks to writer/director Henry Barrial. Also, you get a fine performance from actor Rudolf Martin.
Recommended!
