«Pig» is one of the funniest comedies I have seen in a long time, a very clever mix of satire, fantasy and social commentary, with strong roots in Iranian culture, while never losing sight of the entertainment value and cinematic craftsmanship. Above all, it is a scathing criticism of the world population's dependence on social media, especially the most brazen ones (Instagram, Twitter), to which many persons go to provide and read comments that build their social "reality": it gives them identity, it gives them "the truth", based on false facts, fake news, and contents of few words, few ideas and little depth.
Hasan Kasmai (in a formidable interpretation by Hassan Madjooni, who won the Best Actor award at Sitges) is an A filmmaker who is censored for reasons never exposed, suddenly loses his muse to a new director, and feels that he is losing his distinction in the Iranian film industry, which is more stress than anything. At the same time, Iranian filmmakers are being exterminated by a serial killer who decapitates them and engraves (with an x-act) the word "pig" on their foreheads. As Hasan says, the murdered directors are lame, but when two famous people who are close to him are beheaded, he begins to feel that the killer has not come to murder him because his glory has already passed. And to make things more delirious, an aspiring actress harasses him and uploads images to Instagram, that show features of Hasan that he would have preferred to keep for himself.
What I describe is one thing and what is seen on the screen is another, moments that range from the comic to the sublime, from fantasy to drama, including a ballet of models dressed as red cockroaches for a pesticide commercial that Hasan directs, a police chief who invites him to eat melon while interrogating him, a rock number that Hasan (fan of Black Sabbath and AC/DC) sings accompanied by a band of women in the costumes of the red cockroaches, a sumptuous party, the shooting of an epic film that is a mix between Pasolini and Oliver Stone, Hasan's mother armed with an old rifle and determined to protect her son, plus an influencer who declares the war on Hasan, accusing him of murder.
If you (like me before this) have never seen an Iranian comedy and associate Iranian cinema with Kiarostami, films of children sharing slippers or flying kites, this is a big surprise, and to be fair, a wonderful surprise. Watch it. You will enjoy it and it will also make you think.
