Our lovely pig slaughter

Original Title: Mord

Directed by: Adam Martinec

Country: Czech Republic

Length: 85 min.

Year: 2024

Premiere: Karlovy Vary Film Festival 2024 (Special Mention Award)

Synopsis: during a family gathering for the traditional seasonal pig slaughter, several realtional issues emerge.

RATING: 3/5

 

REVIEW

It is the small scope that elevates Our lovely pig slaughter: short, but not rushed; entirely set around one afternoon, but not frivolous for that reason. A debut, but not restricted by the common setbacks of debut filmmakers.

Ivan Passer has often been invoked as a comparison when it comes to the atmosphere of Martinec's film: with a editing and staging form that feels slightly improvisational - but very clearly isn't, a situation that shifts continuously between the tragic and the comical, it is easy to see parallels with the czech new wave filmmaker. 

Yet, Our lovely pig slaughter is very much a contemporary film in its taste and aesthetics: taking full advantage of the near dusk light, the reflections on the steam, the film constructs a visual that makes it easily identifiable and distinct, in a way few dramas of this magnitude do: it is a tragicomedy elevated to arthouse, in its purest form, through its style.

What is most laudable in the film is that it never falls into the error of transforming into something other than pure cinema: while some aspects of the family relationships, the pig slaughter itself could be sources of reflection on social issues or other relevant topics, the film never enforces a thematisation - something that can often occur in films presented at festivals. 

Our lovely pig slaughter is very literally, a vibe: this tradition is widespread in all central and east european rural areas (but also in the west, maybe less consistently), therefore, it speaks in an universal language at least for an european audience - and constitutes a curiosity for other international viewers.