Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.0
Overall		4.0

The King of Pigs Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman February 25, 2019

The Fake was a patently disturbing Korean anime from 2013 that was the handiwork of filmmaker Sang-ho Yeon. Two years prior to The Fake, Yeon debuted another patently disturbing animated film, The King of Pigs. Much as with The Fake, and in an approach similar to the one I discussed in our The Fake Blu-ray review, Yeon addresses a number of potentially troubling issues which might have seemed even more troubling had they been presented in a live action feature. The story begins with what seems to be the epilogue to a recent murder. A woman who appears to have been strangled is slumped at a kitchen table, evidently dead, while a weeping man is seen showering in the bathroom next door to the kitchen. The man wanders out of the shower in a kind of daze, where he's confronted by some kind of weird apparition that talks to him about having been bullied as one of the "pigs" in life, the seeming lower echelon of society that is apparently unable to withstand the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.

In a way, King of Pigs rather reminded me of some elements of Lord of the Flies, especially when it journeys back in time to document the schoolyard travails of two kids who are “pigs”, the type of bullied boy that the similarly named Piggy is in the William Golding tale. The man with the dead wife is one of two characters seen in flashback. The other man also has a dysfunctional relationship with his main squeeze, though it seems relegated to him “just” taking a hand to her, rather than killing her. The film documents some of their traumas in middle school, while also bringing things back to “current time” for a kind of shocking update on some of the flashback material.

If The Fake took government and religious corruption to task, The King of Pigs is a somewhat more personal rumination on bullying and what might be thought of as an almost ingrained class system in Korea. Like The Fake, this is a very serious film (with some occasionally "blue" language) that addresses rather weighty issues in a unique and at times demanding way.

The King of Pigs Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The King of Pigs is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Olive Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.79:1*. Much as with The Fake, this film doesn't really go for much of a "wow" factor in terms of its stylistic component, but that said, there's almost a strain of magical realism that crops up occasionally, as with the fleeting view of the "spirit guide" seen immediately prior to the credits. The palette is somewhat subdued but still rather varied, and again as with The Fake, some of the material featuring landscapes can be some of the best looking in the film. Line detail is strong throughout the presentation.

*Our aspect ratios are "automatically" measured by our site based on pixels, and while a cursory glance at the screenshots may suggest a 1.78:1 aspect ratio, it does appear at closer look that there is a very thin black border which may account for miniscule difference the site reported.

The King of Pigs Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The King of Pigs features a fine sounding DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track in the original Korean. There's not a lot to the sound design here, though occasional ambient environmental effects are utilized. Otherwise, this features pretty straight ahead dialogue scenes which are serviced very capably by this track. Unlike The Fake's Blu-ray release, the English subtitles on this disc are optional and not forced.

The King of Pigs Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Cast and Crew Interviews (1080i; 15:11)

The King of Pigs Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I frankly wasn't all that aware of Korean animator Sang-ho Yeon before The Fake and The King of Pigs showed up in my review queue, but I have to say I've been rather surprised and even challenged by his material. These are not "cartoons" in any way, shape or form and are certainly not for the kiddies, but The King of Pigs, while violent and disturbing, is also a really interesting cautionary tale about personal pain. Technical merits are solid, and The King of Pigs comes Highly recommended.