The King of Pigs

THE KING OF PIGS is a darker-than-dark South Korean anime detailing that country's social hierarchy and its effect on bullying in high schools. It's an extremely depressing piece of film-making, with no happy endings or answers to the many questions posed throughout; at the same time, it's rather a profound piece of work, and one which pays off as completely rewarding to the viewer who invests his or her time in it.

The story is a straightforward, high school-themed tale about a couple of poor kids who find themselves victimised by the rich older students. Into the chaos comes Chul, a guy who believes that one should become a monster in order to take down the bigger monsters. What transpires is never less than gripping, as it involves you in an increasingly dark and twisted tale.

I wasn't too fond of the basic animation here, although it brings favourably to mind the likes of ANIMAL FARM (and LORD OF THE FLIES is an obvious precursor to this story). The voice acting is also a little shrill for my tastes, but despite all this, THE KING OF PIGS is electrifying viewing thanks to the compelling, unique storytelling.

I see why they chose to tell this tale using animation; some of the stuff that happens to these poor kids is downright foul, and any school that allows these children to experience this type of physical and psychological abuse should be shuttered. The story is heart-breaking, in that you feel for the poor kids, but then you start to realize that society does not make it easy for them, their school doesn't make it easy for them, and they just have to endure. It sucks to watch these kids grow bitter and damaged with each passing minute, and to see their tormentors just laugh off the pain they inflict as "Keeping the students in their place". It's a heart breaking tale of growing up in a society that cares more about keeping their members in line than actually showing affection and love. It is a difficult watch, and one that will not be easily forgotten.

The movie tries to get in a really tough subject matter. While doing so, it does steer away too much though. The constant flashbacks (Rashomon this ain't) and the pace do not work in favor of the movie. The subject is very serious indeed (bullying) and is not to be taken lightly (no matter what country it happens and it unfortunately happens a lot), but while the movie does not take it lightly, it does try too hard. The moral finger pointing is heavy ... too heavy.

The anime style is good throughout, but the movie still felt like it had double the running time. One other thing that made it penetrating and almost unbearable were the subtitles. The filmmaker is (likely) not responsible for those, but it does add to the overall dissatisfaction you might feel while watching this. A feeling that arises because you might feel that this subject matter could've been handled better.

This is the best movie about bullying that has ever been made by most chances. It makes you take a hard look at how powerful and delicate at the same time our minds are, especially those of kids. How they are shaped by their family and its problems, and by the hierarchies built in school; by the repression, inequality and unfairness. With the prohibition of expressiveness (depression), how far can a human go?

I really like realistic animation films so I really wanted to like this movie but it is just not really worth your time.

The movie's story is about two boys and their experience with bullying during their middle school days. The movie starts from the present when they are adults and uses flashbacks tell the story switching back and forth to break up the film into segments. The movie tackles hard real life issues like bullying in schools and system of inequalities and favoritism in the Korean society.

However the problem with the movie is that it is very derivative of better films like "Friend" and does not present anything new enough to stand out on it's own. The only unique aspect of the movie is the fact that it's an animation but it is clear that the reason this movie is an animation is because of costs. The animation quality is poor and what's worse is the poor voice recording in the film. The sound would often clip causing a lot of distortion in dialogue because they use such poor equipment to record the voice overs. Overall it does not do enough to impress in either the visuals or story and personally I would not recommend watching this film.