El rey de los cerdos

Serious animation is no longer a novelty but the bleakness of this Korean toon is disturbing.

Leaving a girl with a rope mark on her neck, the bespectacled lead 'phones the old school pal, who is having domestic troubles of his own. During their night drinking and walking together, we see flashbacks to their school days, where they were at the bottom layer of a brutal system of bullying.

The director's first feature is done with limited movement and only occasional flashes of striking imagery - the animal headed class mates, the ugly ghost cat, simulated afternoon light. Using female voices for the boys is also alienating. The film is so intense that viewers are likely to forget the exposition and find themselves unsatisfied by the rapid wind-up.

Think of this as a curious companion to the similarly themed OLD BOY and part of the country's ultra-violence cycle, among which it is a stand out.

You could write an essay about this movie.

But suffice to say this was formidable. It has the filthiness of a live action drama and the majesty that justifies its animation. We are plunged into a brutal, viscous world that feels all to familiar and convincing. Amazingly vivid characters.

Not a feel good movie but it works on every level.

The movie tries to get in a really tough subject matter. While doing so, it does steer away too much though. The constant flashbacks (Rashomon this ain't) and the pace do not work in favor of the movie. The subject is very serious indeed (bullying) and is not to be taken lightly (no matter what country it happens and it unfortunately happens a lot), but while the movie does not take it lightly, it does try too hard. The moral finger pointing is heavy ... too heavy.

The anime style is good throughout, but the movie still felt like it had double the running time. One other thing that made it penetrating and almost unbearable were the subtitles. The filmmaker is (likely) not responsible for those, but it does add to the overall dissatisfaction you might feel while watching this. A feeling that arises because you might feel that this subject matter could've been handled better.

This film is disturbing. I say that to mean that this film accomplished what it sets out to. It deals with sensitive issues like bullying, abuse and domestic violence in a nuanced and sympathetic way, without overshadowing the bad things done by both the abusers and their victims. It's also got a twist that works really well in the story. The animation style works really well with the story it is trying to tell. I would recommend it, but make sure you have the right mind for it.

A haunting, hard-hitting animation about the problem of class struggle in South Korea and its disastrous connection to bullying. With its nightmarish art direction, it stimulates many radical emotions in the viewer, assaulting him with a most sombre tale of an atrocious past.

Two men struggling with domestic issues of their own meet after 15 years and reminisce about their extremely difficult school days. Their childhood was gradually being destroyed because of the ongoing, enormous and brutal pressure from the rich kids who ruled the school-grounds and often resolved to in-class violence. The fact that everybody around pretends that this horrible activity didn't even exist only made the whole issue worse and caused the richer kids to be even more confident of their impunity. The boys' last and only hope was their brave yet ferocious classmate Chul. He proved to be the only kid who wasn't afraid to stand up against the terror and tried to fight back using even more violence than his oppressors. Without any help from the outside the three friends came up with a most shocking plan - Chul will commit a public suicide. Without any hope for a brighter future they though of this extreme scheme as they only means to notifying the impassive adults about the horrible incidents that occur behind the school walls everyday.

Apart from evaluating the boys' decisions and presenting their differing viewpoints on the situation - and on what's about to happen - the film also reveals a grand mystery in its final act.

The plot is inspired by the director's dream, where his two friends decide to commit suicide as a revenge act for all the evil that's happened to them in the past.

The King of Pigs is a mightily dark and obscure anime, where horrible reality merges with confusing visions, only to deliver a stupendously convincing message to the Korean nation. Through the story of two men it shows that many childhood traumas have terrible lifelong effects. Memories are deceiving, but they play an important role in determining how people cope with their lives.