The Hour of the Pig (1994)

Good concept, poorly executed.

Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

A waste of 90 minutes of my life

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

This period flick had much going for it- BBC backing, an excellent cast including Colin Firth and Lord of the Ring's Ian Holm- and pretty decent sets. It is quite well shot. It promises us that "When murder is the motive, seduction is the last defence".Sadly it just doesn't work. A sort of anachronistic liberalism just suffocates the life out of the whole thing and gives it a phonier ring than a $8 note. Colin Firth is the crusading lawyer who uses all the jargon of a "right-on" legal aid lawyer who retires to digs in Islington for the night. But this is medieval France- not the East End of London. We have the dreary spectacle of this uber-liberal goody-two-shoes Firth protecting the compulsory ethnic minority figure plus all the brute beasts of the land against the evil and conspiratorial Lord of the Manor. Although some of it is funny, most of it is just embarrassingly clumsy.There is plenty of admirable full frontal nudity, but sadly that is probably one of the few reasons to bother watching this mediocre cinematic effort. Although it claims historical authenticity, believe me- that is just tosh.

This film masterly deals with a very specific moment in the history of Western Christianity. It's not just the Medieval Ages .. since, in a generally accepted timetable, it started circa 450 AD and lasted 'til the rise of the Absolute Monarchies ... it depicts a moment of transition. The already settled upsurging process in which feudal cities would develop as independent political entities under the rule of a central monarchy ... a moment in which France's bourgeoisie starts to position itself as a major political and economical partner/supporter of a highly centralized monarchy in opposition to the decentralized political organization championed by feudal lords. A struggle which would, eventually in future times, determine how law and order should be imposed to society and the consequential encroachment of a national state. So, this film's story happens in the waning of French feudalism as a source of political and economical power. You must never forget that what is shown in this film as the feudal lord's privileges were once, in a then very recent past, the rule ... the French Revolution is still centuries away ... and not a trace yet of the Thirteen Colonies ... but now, that's all history. Yeah ... yeah, it's a fiction alright ... a fiction loosely based on real legal reports of the Middle Age ... so yes, the things you'll see not just could have happened ... but eventually, and quite oftenly I should add, did actually happen very much in the same fashion exposed in this great film. By now you must be asking yourself ... why in the world is this guy beating around the bush for ?! ... and in my usual high style manner I would answer: Simply because without the previous historical pinpointing you would miss all the possible readings this film has to offer and the much needed gap filling. ... Furthermore, in case you're; yes you my dear reader, a High School student, don't even try to argue or use the info contained in this review in a school debate or essay ... firstly, it might be too specific for the common knowledge of most High School teachers ... and secondly, you obviously lack a yielding background knowledge to support it.Most reviewers, including high ranking pros, missed the point completely as to what concerns this film ... one of them pros took it has a comedy and simply compared it to Mounty Python And The Holy Grail ... oh c'mon, how unreal can you get ?!!! The Hour Of The Pig does have some 'laughable moments' ... so does Reservoir Dogs ... but most of such moments will be laughed at based on our 21st Century understanding of reality and common sense. In spite the 'laughable moments', it's not a comedy ... it's a thriller. Some other reviewers, pros included, preferred comparing it to The Name Of The Rose. Such comparison is pure fallacy in all senses. I've seen the film and I've read the book ... the great result of erudite and throughout historical research, most specifically as to what concerns past and then still ongoing theological debates and disputes. Jean-Jacques Annaud somehow managed to destroy Umberto Eco's story and turned it into an overrated and underscored whodunit. The Hour Of The Pig is more of a what-the-heck-is-happening-here kind of thriller story ... and as the film unfolds, you'll be shown a very detailed and carefully crafted epoch re-enactment of everyday life in those times.Basically the plot spirals around the ongoing dispute for the exercise of power (fiefdom versus highly centralized monarchies) staged in the trial of a domestic animal ... ultimately, a struggle for the upper hand in controlling the means, resources and legitimacy to impose fear upon society in general. 'It is the curse of our times ... gentlemen ... not the black death ... but fear ' says Pincheon as if previewing Thomas Hobbes by quite a few years. The Renaissance has been going on for more than a century already. The world was changing but not changed yet ... and such clash would still go on for centuries ahead. Leslie Megahey's competent approach as a director and scriptwriter has acquired for this film a stand alone feature. It's not a hamburger, take it with savoir vivre.

*Warning! Contains some spoilers!*An intelligent story brought to live with a brilliant cast!"Firth" of all of course Colin Firth who is as endearing and convincing as always. He just radiates so much honesty into this character and to us being witty, sexy, passionate, sly and clever at the same time.I regard him as the best English actor of this time!He plays a lawyer looking for peace,justice and a quiet life in the country in order to escape political corruption. And every lawyer in real life will tell you that those are unreachable goals and the quest is just grotesque. But Richard Courtois starts with the best intentions in mind and acts accordingly, even almost completely disregarding his own safety. Partly because he naively believes the law to bring justice and not the money or the political power. A lawyer with ideals, a heart and conscience, a rarity.Ian Holm is beautiful cast as priest Albertus who goes after women nevertheless,twisting everything the way it fits him best while always having a sharp look and the wits to escape the Inquisition and the mighty landlord. The conversations between him and the greenhorn lawyer are refreshing, funny and also frustrating when Albertus denies what he really knows to be right in order to preserve his good life. He betrays his friend Courtois by doing that looking him straight in the eye.The crime, the perpetrator and the mystery are well developed and the truth isn't reveal until the very end. I enjoyed myself tremendously (being a lawyer myself and realizing that the madness brought before court is still the same though the laws have changed... well, a bit... *lol*)

Out of curiosity I watched this film on TV when it came on after midnight mainly because I rather like Colin Firth (handsome fellow!). I'm afraid I simply got lost on the whole thing.I learned more of what the story was meant to be about by the rolling onscreen printed text at the beginning and the end which explained some of the history and background, thank goodness, or I really would have been lost. Otherwise, most of what I saw was: 1) quaint medieval costumes and sombre castle settings, 2) a more mature Colin Firth (the Advocate in the film, I'm told), 3) an odd menagerie of peculiar looking people, tall and extra short, 4) lots of bare bottoms, 5) a series of Firth's worst advocate nightmares become reality, or so it seemed, 6) a case of the plague towards the end. There was a good dose of intrigue and suspicion wrapped up in silence where I guess the viewer was supposed to know what everyone was thinking. Maybe this wasn't my night for connecting. Am I getting old or what?