Dead Pigs
A mysterious stream of pig carcasses floats silently toward China’s populous economic hub, Shanghai. As authorities struggle to explain the phenomenon, pig farmer Wang is faced with a bitter reality: Shortly after treating himself to a pair of the latest and largely overpriced VR glasses, his pigs begin to die for no apparent reason too. Meanwhile, Wang’s sister, who runs a well-established beauty salon, is facing problems of her own: her beloved ancestral home is to be replaced by a large-scale building project. The American architect responsible continually tries to impress his employer, but has little knowledge of Chinese culture. In the meantime, Wang’s son falls in love with a high-society girl whose friends are exclusively interested in material things.
With a perfect balance of humour and tragedy, Cathy Yan uses five different characters in order to create a complex mosaic which puts emphasis on the current changes taking place in Chinese urban society.
- Genre: Tragicomedy
- Country, Year: China, 2018
- Runtime: 130 Min
- Languages: Chinese, English
- Subtitles: English, German
- Director: Cathy Yan
- Cast: Vivian Wu, Yang Haoyu, Li Meng, Mason Lee, David Rysdahl, Zazie Beetz
- Screenplay: Cathy Yan
- Cinematography: Federico Cesca
- Editor: Alex Kopit
- Music: Andrew Orkin
- Producers: Clarissa Zhang, Jane Zheng
- Executive Producer: Jia Zhangke
- Production Companies: Seesaw Productions, ALIBABA PICTURES, Media Asia Film
- World Sales: Creative Artists Agency, CAA