THE FILM
TITLE: Letter to a Pig
RELEASE DATE: 28 Apr 2022
WATCH DATE: 04 Mar 2024
TYPE: animated short film
ACCESS: available for rent on Vimeo
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THE PEOPLE
DIRECTOR: Tal Kantor
PRODUCER: Emmanuel-Alain, Raynal Pierre, Baussaron Amit, Russell Gicelter
WRITER: Tal Kantor
ACTORS: Moriyah Meerson, Alexander Peleg, Ayelet Margalit, Indra Maharik, Tomer Yaakov, Shai Harel, Ariel Lindzen
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THE STORY
RUNTIME: 17m
STORYLINE: a Holocaust survivor shares his story with students, one in particular who is transported by the story into an alternate narrative as they process his trauma and their own
GENRE/THEMES: drama, thriller, Holocaust, monster-and-man, trauma, based on a true story
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THE CRITIQUE
THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS
Within the first few seconds, it is evident that incredibly talented artists created this film. The monochrome watercolor style animation lends itself to the eerie elements. It is abstract, as trauma often is. Trauma is also fractured, as is displayed in parts of the characters - real footage of the eye or arms of the survivor, and real texture of the pig’s nose or hoof.
The first act introduces us to the Holocaust survivor, and his trauma… that we come to see that has never really healed. In act two, the student enters an alternate narrative where they begin to process the trauma of the survivor, as well as their own trauma from hearing his story.
Contrasts in the script are mentally engaging. In act one, the old survivor shares the irony of being raised as a Jew to consider pigs as unclean animals (Leviticus 11:7-8), and yet being saved from a horrible death by one. The score is both enchanting and edgy, as it carries the young student through the narrative.
The concept of a ‘pig’ morphs throughout the film. It is the creature that saved the survivor’s life as a boy from the Nazis, but then it becomes a representative of the Nazis themselves. In the climax of the story, the ‘pig’ now represents the old man survivor himself, a massive but sad monster. The student extends compassion, and the huge, old ‘pig’ transforms into a small, young ‘pig’, representing possibly also the student now. The profoundness is understood when you realize the old man survivor is still that terrified boy inside, and the compassion begins to heal him.
There is some confusion on the meaning of how we move from one meaning of ‘pig’ to the next. The film is extremely abstract - most iconically, a short staircase scene indicative of M.C. Escher’s “Relativity”. It is, dreamlike.. but also like a nightmare. Not everything makes sense when you wake up. And that lends itself to the nature of trauma and how we process it internally.
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THE RECEPTION
NOMINATIONS
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THE IMPRESSION
IN A SINGLE WORD: tender
MOST STRIKING ELEMENT: artwork
REWATCH: yes
RATING: 3.5 // 5 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐
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