Written and directed by Kieron Hawkes his
debut feature ‘Piggy’ is a disappointing yet worth watching gritty exploration
of violence in the inner-city life of modern day London. The strength of the
two central performances by Paul Anderson in the title role and Martin Compston
as Joe both seeking revenge for the murder of Joe’s older brother John played
by Neil Maskell (last year’s ‘Kill List’) along with the prolonged scenes of
skilfully executed ultra-realistic violence and the pathos Hawkes injects to
the material all makes for entertaining viewing. It is just that the film does not fulfil
the promise it had making this just another average British revenge
thriller and ultimately a letdown.
Joe (Compston) is a shy lonely soul working
as an office runner in the hustle and bustle of today’s London struggling to
cope with his fears of society. When his older brother John (Maskell) suddenly visits him Joe is brought out of his shell as the close siblings go on
nights out together. During one of these nights in a pub an altercation breaks out between them
and a group of buttoned up shirt geezer types. Later, while walking home alone
one night John is stabbed to death by the gang of thugs. After the funeral and previously
unknown to Joe, John’s old school friend the crazed loner Piggy (Anderson) turns
up at Joe’s door to persuade him that the both of them should take revenge on
John’s killers bringing Joe out of himself again albeit a darker self.
This is essentially just a standard tale of
retribution with contradicting narrative issues to boot all narrated by Martin
Compston’s character’s inner-monologue. I found it bewildering that Joe would
still stick with Piggy and his plan for revenge even though it is abundantly apparent
to him that Piggy is as the Yanks would say a couple of cans short of a six-pack. Furthermore, in a sub-plot Joe
becomes close with John’s ex-girlfriend the normal living and good-hearted Claire (Louise Dylan) yet he is still drawn
to Piggy’s dark side of life lessons even though Joe was at his happiest and
most outgoing in the company of his beloved brother and his ex.
The grisly revenge aspects are all handled
effectively well though with the director cutting away at the right moments during
the acts of ferocious vengeance committed by the insane avenger Piggy. Except
for an explicit throat slitting, Kieron Hawkes substitutes the lack of
actual on-screen blood and gore by employing the enhancement of diegetic sounds
to maximize the effect of the brutality leaving it more to the imagination. It
is a very similar technique to Tobe Hooper’s skilled handling of the violent sequences in
‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ (1974) making us think we are seeing the
extremity of the gruesomeness more than we actually are. A prime example of
this is one scene set in the warehouse where Piggy and Joe take the scumbag
murderers and Piggy repeatedly stamps on the head of one man which seems like
the longest of times until his head is nothing but mushed melon; the horrible squelching
sounds are just as stomach churning as if it was graphically depicted. Hardened
genre fans should not be put off by the absence of claret here for the most
part.
However, I found it strange that Hawkes would go out of his way to show
the nasty slitting of a throat in full detail but for other scenes like when Piggy is
stamping on a man’s skull it is all done with cut away editing. This is a muddling filmmaking
decision.
James Friend captures all this with some nice
cinematography. It is a well-shot movie and Hawkes uses the locations of London
to full effect to paint a grimy picture of a city that is a harsh unforgiving
environment rife with social problems. With also an atmospherically sorrowful score by Bill Ryder-Jones of the British band The Coral, heightening
the moody tone and the emotional punch ‘Piggy’ is overall a technically
attractive film. The emotive leanings are on display from Compston’s
performance as he watches Piggy deal out the punishment and his reactions to coming
to terms with the dark that lies within him. The two leads carry the
proceedings very well. Paul Anderson is brimming with energy in a terrifying
turn with a hauntingly forceful presence as he goads on the grieving and torn Compston
who draws our empathy.
The movie just does not live up to what it
should have been though failing to do anything substantially different breaking
no new ground at all. If the director had of set out to make a solidly dark
straightforward revenge film then there would be no call for this criticism but
he teases us with something deeper. There are psychological elements presented
here as half-baked concepts in a intriguing set-up of a potentially interesting
study of isolation, violence and grief. Kieron Hawkes fails to follow this
through not delivering what he promised making an uneven mess of things right
through to the ambiguous ending. This is something I can commend Hawkes on
doing as he purposely nods to a Fight Clubesque twist throughout that is surely coming at the end but
does something the complete opposite with a double twist one of which is left up
to interpretation.
‘Piggy’ is not terrible by any means but it
is just not too good either. Kieron
Hawkes is an immense talent showing a great deal of promise giving us a taste
what he is capable of in the future. His technicality is sound and he pulls off
some impressive visual treats here but he needs to hone his writing skills, as
this is what has let him down. Still, it is his directorial debut and I can let
him off for that. With much better material, I am sure Hawkes can make a more
substantial effort next time around. I look forward to seeing this filmmaker
grow with more innovative work.
** out of ****
Dave J. Wilson
©2012
Cinematic Shocks, Dave J. Wilson - All work is the property of the credited
author and may not be reprinted or reproduced elsewhere without permission.
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