Leon the Pig Farmer

Poor Leon discovers a past that goes against everything that is Jewish. It takes a while for the story to kick start but once you get going, you fall into the flamboyance of the humour, enjoying the belly laughs, and maybe the dish as well.

What's the point of this small gem?

It's about Leon (getting to know to) being somewhat different, based on his ancestry in contrast to the environment and society he lives, just because of some information, that doesn't necessarily need to influence his life, but still manages to push him into a process of self discovery.

While the first half shows Leons life as a modern jew, maybe comparable to how "The Nanny" did, later on. This culture gives the movie some known, solid background, but the story could get transposed to combinations of cultures and societies, without losing its statement.

Leons real struggle turns around his two lovers: one girl dreaming of an exciting partner and therefore not willing to commit to him, another one, that just loves to scandalize in her art and her loving.

The second half comes up with the absurd twist of the (impossible) hybrid being (which is never shown), making it a kind of allegory for Leon and starting some discussions, where british comedies do excel.

Apart from Conny Booth (Fawlty Towers!), Maryam D'Abo (fresh from the Bond) and (the then lesser known?) Gina Bellman the cast bears no big names, but overall matching, sympathetic acting. The pace of the story runs smooth.

I give it a 7, because it proves decent movie can be made with minimum fundings.

You can leave the Church of England altogether; Catholics lapse, but remain in some senses Catholic; and you're always a Jew. On this basis, there may be thought be to some good ground for comedy in a film about a Jewish man, who, while in the midst of a general life-crisis, discovers that on top of all his other problems, his true father is a Yorkshire pig-farmer! Unfortunately, this is an almost embarrassingly amateurish movie. It has no idea of how to handle a storyline, while both realism and belly-laughs are eschewed in favour of a half-hearted stylisation that never even manages to convey a mood, let alone find a comic vein. Moreover, in a huge number of scenes, the natural object of our attention is off-camera: in some cases, that's because the object cannot be filmed, but whether the other cases are explained by directorial preference or incompetence I wouldn't like to say. A clumsy and anaemic film, you won't miss much if you don't see it.

Very enjoyable, funny, quirky and a little odd. All in all an entertaining way to waste an hour and a half or so. It's starting to look a little dated however, this does not detract from what is a very entertaining film. There are a lot of films brit flicks that are more highly rated and nowhere near as good.

Jewish guilt is not a topic that I see portrayed much in movies, but "Leon the Pig Farmer" does a good job with it. Leon Geller (Mark Frankel) is a Jewish estate agent in London who one day discovers that he was the product of artificial insemination; his real father is a pig farmer. Going off to meet his "other" family, Leon has more than a few surprises! They did an interesting job here. True, non-Jews might not get all the jokes, but it's funny nonetheless. And I guess that we sometimes forget that there ARE Jews in England. Anyway, you might see if you can find this movie. You'll probably like it.

Oh, and by the way, that one character was played by Burt Kwouk (Kato from the "Pink Panther" movies).