If you introduce Nicolas Cage in one sentence, it would be "the former king of Hollywood, now the king of bad movies". He once won the best actor Oscar for the small-budget movie "Leaving Las Vegas", and his popularity is well-known all over the world. Later, he filmed commercial blockbusters such as "Leaving Las Vegas", "Breaking the Dead Island", "Speed in 60 Seconds", and thus gained the beauty of box office elixir.
But he is not only the best actor at the Oscars, but also the “favorite” actor at the Golden Raspberry Awards. After "Lord of War" (2005), Nicolas Cage has the title of the king of bad films, and he has been nominated for the Golden Raspberry Award eleven times with bad films, and all his former glory has been lost.
Now, Cage has released a new work again, but to everyone's surprise, the freshness of this new work "Pig" on Rotten Tomatoes has soared to 97%. came back"!
Speaking of Gulas Cage's films, it is always inseparable: passion, action, special effects. Just like last year's "Judo Demon" and "Grand Island" the year before.
But the blood is stubborn, and after the passion, it seems that something is missing. Because the audience watched too much, it was like a piece of chewing gum that had been chewed countless times. After chewing it, it naturally became less and less tasteful. And the movie "Pig" is like a good dish with endless aftertastes.
The film opens with dark tones and a long shot aimed at the virgin forest, through the sunlight passing through the jungle, shining on the vicissitudes of the face of the truffle collector Rob (Gulas Cage). Even without any elaboration of lines, a Robinsonian figure of an old man far removed from civilization stands.
The old man didn't talk much, and he used whistles to communicate with his pigs. They collected truffles and shared food together. They could feel that this pig had an incomparable position in Rob's heart.
Rob is undoubtedly world-weary and withdrawn. He does not have contact with anyone, and only has a brief communication with Amir, a businessman who comes to the forest to buy truffles every time. Amir once asked Rob if he needed basic living equipment such as a camping bather. He even wanted to give Rob a mobile phone, worried that no one would know when he died, and he would be dirty everywhere.
Rob was silent and chose to close the door to thank the guests. The first ten minutes of the film will make you wonder, what kind of past made such a man choose to entrust all his emotions to a pig in the deep mountains? Why did he lose the enthusiasm and fighting spirit to connect with people and live alone?
This "one person, one pig, one world" life seems to be smooth, but it is so reassuring for the old man. When the old man picked up the tape and put it into the tape recorder, it quickly paused. He must have been thinking about someone for a long time. At this time, the pig came over, as if to comfort the old man.
But the peace was broken. One night, two strangers broke into Rob's house and snatched the pig. Rob, who stopped him all the way, was beaten to the ground. The next day Rob got up from the ground, it was endless sadness.
When the only companion was snatched away, the old man decided to leave the forest and go to the city, embarking on a journey to find pigs. On the one hand, this is a special truffle pig, on the other hand, it is the only thought that my wife has left for her. In addition to Rob, there is also a stakeholder Amir on the road to find pigs. Without truffle pigs, it means that Amir has no supply and business is yellow.
Rob first went to the old man to inquire about the news, but the other party refused, on the grounds that the old man was no longer the old man and had no value. So he came to the old man's casino and wanted to get some information from here. But the premise is that he has to be strong enough.
When Rob wrote his name on the wall, the people around him turned away and seemed to be in awe of him. When the only challenger came to power, the old man's face was like a lake, like a ninja. When the old man saw the old man on the stage, he seemed to have come back from the past. So he gave the old man the name of a restaurant as a clue, and Amir, who was watching, was shocked and began to think about the identity of the old man.
In fact, Rob was a famous chef at the time, and the head chef of this restaurant was the employee he fired that year. But even so, the chef still respects Rob, and he tells Rob that the person who took the piggy is actually Amir's father.
Amir's father was a top entrepreneur and a refined egoist. The reason why he took Rob's pig was because the gradual expansion of Amir's black truffle business had touched his father's interests, and the profession of black truffle merchant was really unseemly in his father's eyes. With the plot of the shredded cocoon, Rob's pig seems to have eyebrows, but how to move the mountain of Amir's father has become the biggest problem.
2
It was thought that after the long story foreshadowed, Rob would kill the pig thief, and the story would develop in the direction of a revenge action movie. After all, "Pig", also known as "Fast Pig Kill", will attract infinite reverie. But I didn't expect that Rob could not kill, and moved the stubborn and stubborn Amir's father with a delicious dinner that was too delicious to cry, and this reversal had already paved the way in the middle of the film.
Amir once shared a story of his parents with Rob. His parents had a bad relationship since childhood, but they didn't quarrel only on the day when they had a delicious meal together, and they kept discussing after returning home. But this is the only tenderness, and it didn't take long for Amir's mother to leave him forever.
Although Amir has hatred for his father, in fact he has love for his father, but he has not found a suitable opportunity, and he does not know how to express his emotions. The way Rob taught Amir was to cook, to awaken his father's dusty memory.
This method is undoubtedly quiet and sharp, he has insight into the emotional connection between people and food, and Rob uses the dishes he once cooked for the couple to string the pearls of the past. When Amir's father broke the defense with the first bite of the food, he couldn't restrain his guilt and longing for his wife. And Rob is also a man who can't get out of the pain of his wife's death. To a certain extent, the two are sympathetic to each other.
Amir's father also told Rob the truth. The truffle pig died because of the recklessness of his subordinates, which meant that the only bond between him and his wife was cut off. This was undoubtedly cruel, and Rob broke down and cried. This is the climax of the whole film, but the film has been silenced, which is a silent heartbreak.
Whether it is the textbook-like montage at the beginning of the film, or the processing at the end is delicate and bland. In the director's smooth and calm, undercurrents were filmed, and people who have experienced the loss of their loved ones, how should they reconcile with themselves? When he returned to his cabin in the forest alone, washed the dirt off his face, and listened to his wife's video, it meant that Rob had truly accepted that life was inherently lonely, and he had reconciled with his past self.
3
How many people watched Rob's montages of cooking, and they couldn't stop their tongues and throats shaking. Rob was confident and sure when he cooked dishes. He remembered that every guest who cooked for him was bright and warm. So, "Pig" is not so much a thriller drama as it is a food and family movie.
In this film, each of us can find similar feelings: the old father, still stubbornly does not know how to express love; the food we once enjoyed with the family has become a precious memory; everyone has their own world, They have also found their own spiritual belonging... When the food is served on the table, it means that all hatred will be dissolved. Of course, such a literary film can't be like an R-rated movie, which makes people feel full of joy, but this kind of unpretentious, no added dog blood, with an unspoken tenderness, makes us better understand that "food is the connection between family and love" link".
Let's go back and watch the whole film, it is divided into three subsections by the name of the ingredients or dishes, "Pastoral Mushroom Pie", "Mama's French Toast and Deconstructed Scallops", "A Roasted Bird, a Bottle of Wine", each Each name gives the film a different flavor. Use food to structure the plot, leaving the most simple and simple emotions, so that the audience can have a spiritual resonance.
In addition, the broadcast that Amir hears in the car introducing classical music is the divider of the film's three paragraphs. The first broadcast sounded, Rob got on Amir's sports car and decided to return to modern society; the second broadcast sounded, Rob woke up at Amir's house, the two of them ate together, and the two revealed their hearts; the third sounded The second broadcast sounded, and it was the end of the story, when Rob got the bad news and got into Amir's car for the last time.
With the music and food as a foil, the movie "Pig" has more sense of life, and more of a lonely old man's lifelong sadness and the relief of having to move forward. In fact, the focus of the film is not on pigs, let alone revenge, but on breaking the nightmare that separates people from each other. The eternal things in the film are the connection of love and emotional memory. If you are still brooding about the bad films Cage once starred in, then you may change your mind after watching this literary film "Pig". It can't be said that this is Cage's acting subversion, but it is indeed his many years. The most unintentional play ever.
View more about Pig reviews
