Dead Pigs (2018)

"You never miss the water 'til the well runs dry"

Dead Pigs directed by Cathy Yan connected several stories under the backdrop of a mass die off of pigs similar to the real-life deaths and dumping of 16,000 pigs in the Huangpo river near Shanghai. This film was not nearly as dire as that, instead it was focused on capitalist expansion at the expense of traditional neighborhoods with side stories of romance and comedy. Who knew Shanghai was a place where people could break into song as the bulldozers raged?

Old Wang is a pig farmer who loses his life savings to a scam artist. To add insult to injury his pigs die. Loan sharks do not care about his predicament, they just want their money. He goes to his sister, Candy/Zhao Di, for a loan, but she refuses him. She’s fighting a development company who wants to build a large Spanish inspired apartment complex complete with a cathedral. Candy and her pigeons are the last holdouts. Wang Zhen has led his father to believe that he has been successful in business, but instead he is a waiter at a restaurant barely making ends meet. He falls for a bored, wealthy young woman who is surrounded by arrogant, social climbers. And finally, Sean Landry is the architect of the ostentatious apartment complex and charged with changing the Wangs’ minds.

The film was filled with people who believed they were not good enough. Old Wang’s life was a struggle which he managed to make worse. He envied the pigs’ life of leisure not taking into account the price they paid for it. Zhen hurt because he wasn’t able to help his father more. Xia Xia dealt with disconnection from family and friends. When she was hospitalized only a stranger visited her. Sean failed at architecture in the U.S. but had a second chance in China. Another ex-patriate gave him a side gig of playing various westerners for companies. In some ways he felt like the random white guy thrown into this film. And finally, Candy was supremely confident in herself but could not bear to leave her family’s home and neighborhood. Even though the neighbors had all been bought out she clung to her memories of what had been.

The porcine pollution highlighted how it was cheaper and more expedient to dump the pigs in the river than go through the proper government channels. Some farmers did not want to invite official attention into their businesses. It looked like they showed actual news footage of the clean up and real or fake pigs in the water. If you are sensitive to these types of images-beware.

The wealthy made life harder on the middle class and poor, able to buy whatever they wanted including their way of out trouble. Old Wang ended up with crushing debt in the desire to get rich quick. Sean tried to pitch that the new apartment complex was progress, making homes available to the people who needed them…the needy wealthy. The displaced could never hope to live in the luxury apartments. The cinematography and music along with solid acting made for an enticing film to watch. Vivian Wu gave an especially entertaining performance. My biggest complaint was that it was too long, numerous scenes were repetitive. “Important” themes don’t have to be repeated and film length doesn’t equate with quality.

I looked at this film through western eyes and likely missed much. Though gentrification and corporations buying homes are problems for all but the upper class here. Small family farms are a dying breed as multi-conglomerates gobble them up. Dead Pig’s stories were ultimately woven together, showing that greed can’t completely break the human spirit and that family and friendship mean something greater than things or property. And when you’re lucky a moment of spiritual triumph can be accompanied by song. (7.75 rounded up to an 8.0)

20 August 2026

Trigger warnings: Dead animals

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Todo ciclo se repite, incluso el de las diferencias sociales

Bueno, el momento musical fue extraño. Aún así, me pareció una muy buena película en general. Toca muchos temas, pero lo hace de forma consciente y prolija, sobretodo en lo que tiene que ver con las diferencias de clase, las expectativas familiares y los vínculos entre seres humanos. Siendo los cerdos muertos, además de un evento real, una especie de alegoría sobre las grandes corporaciones y el individuo promedio. Mientras se desperdicia comida, hay gente luchando por sobrevivir. A niveles generales, las actuaciones son muy buenas y hay más de una historia que nos mantiene intrigados por saber qué va a suceder con sus protagonistas. Porque, de nuevo, aunque puede ser muy surreal y cómico, lo más idealista de toda la cinta, es ese final. La música en general tiene algunos puntos buenos, aunque no son la mayoría, pero sin duda la fotografía es un gran plus. Aunque no vi mucho de "Aves de presa", ya en esta cinta se deja ver un estilo visual de la directora, y eso me gustó mucho.

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