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The Hour of the Pig (1993) More at IMDbPro »

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20 reviews in total

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14 out of 16 people found the following review useful:
Classic tale of Good vs. evil, 29 January 2002
Author: mimacdon4 from FT. Lauderdale, FL

Firstly, this movie is based on true legal cases during the 15th century which makes it intriguing from the get go. It is based on Richard Cortois, played by Colin Firth, an Advocate who leaves a practice in Paris, to seek the simple country life in a village named Abbeville. What he finds is a quite different story. Country law applies to both man and beast and that is where much of the fun unfolds. The story centers mainly around the case against a pig accused of killing a Jewish child. Courtois, at first, finds the case a bit ridiculous, but finds that as the defense Advocate, he must represent the pig. He is also solicited by the pig's owner to try the case "as the pig is everything to them". As the story unfolds, it becomes evident that there is more here than meets the eye. The case becomes a symbol of maintaining order in the little country town. Courtois attempts to get to the bottom of the mystery and finds that other children have similiarly gone missing over the last year. He is provided a hint by a client tried for witchery saying "Look to the boy, Maitre". It is a great film on many levels and provides quite a bit of comic relief during the many trial sequences. Ian Holm, as the priest who has his own defination of good-which includes trysts with many of his lady parishoners, gives a worthy performance as does Nicole Williamson as the corrupt Seigneur. It is Colin Firth who shines in his wonderful portrayal of Richard Cortois, the one driving force of nobility and honor in the town rotten to the core with evil.

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19 out of 26 people found the following review useful:
This offbeat film is not simply poetic license at the expense of all history and reason, 29 July 2003

Author: edtyct

Hour of the Pig, or the Advocate, as it is better known outside England in its edited incarnation to avoid an NC-17 rating, is a period piece built around the curiosity of the medieval animal trial. Yes, this strange phenomenon actually occurred; both the Church, and to a lesser extent, the legal authorities in various parts of medieval Europe spend part of their time assessing the guilt of animals in regard to property damage and human injury. Behind their investigations in this heavily Christian world was the idea that the devil might be controlling those who were not Christian or otherwise behaving badly. As you might well imagine, Jews, Moors, animals, and other nonconformists often got the raw end of the deal. The film indulges slightly in the conceit that the sophisticates in society--like the advocate (Colin Firth) and an educated priest (Ian Holm)--were intellectually above these superstitions but were either too powerless or too hypocritical to protest it.

Be that as it may, the advocate (based loosely on an actual lawyer, and his cases) comes to a small town in the French countryside to begin a new practice away from the indecencies of Paris. He figures that his knowledge of law will work to both his advantage and that of his new neighbors, whom he is primed to admire for their bucolic virtues. He couldn't be more wrong. The tone is set with his first glimpse of the town, like a scene from Brueghel--the hanging of a man and a donkey convicted of engaging in sodomy. At the last minute, a messenger from the authorities arrives bearing a character reference sufficient to reprieve the donkey; no such luck, however, for her partner in crime.

From that point forward, the film gently presents the advocate as mistaken about nearly every conviction that he deigns to express. The serving girl at the inn, whom he admires on first glance for how she "carries herself," so unlike the women in Paris, turns out to be a prostitute. Nor is he aware that this inn, in which he takes up residence, is a whorehouse until his clerk, who is the script's witty voice of common sense, informs him just before he returns to Paris. His first case, the defense of a man accused of killing his wife's lover, in which a pig figures as a material witness, is an ostensible success, though the defendant all but admits his guilt to the stunned advocate after the trial. His second case, upon which he enters with doomed confidence, is an unmitigated disaster because of his ignorance of local precedent, resulting in the death of a woman for witchcraft. As the woman is taken from the courtroom, she offers the advocate some enigmatic advice about a case involving a young Jewish boy recently killed, apparently by a pig belonging to gypsies. "Look to the boy," she tells him. At her execution, she offers the town not the curse that everyone was expecting but a blessing, intended to cure the town of its sins. As it happens, the blessing comes true, but, as this film would have it, the cure may well be worse than the disease.

Enter now the plot's hinge. The authorities incarcerate the gypsies' pig, expecting to execute it. Firth wants desperately to avoid the matter, despite his attraction to the seductive owner of the animal, but fate conspires against him. The case eventually gets him mixed up with the local seigneur (Nicol Williamson), a pragmatic businessman who bought his title and wants to buy the advocate as well. We're not quite sure why until much later when the advocate learns how the boy died, but the advocate still has to win the pig's freedom because the facts of the case remain hidden.

The film doesn't qualify as a traditional murder mystery, despite the scaffolding of its plot; it's a little too arbitrary for that. But its irony and its flirtation with mystification, if not traditional narrative mystery, maintain interest. Furthermore, its sense of humor doesn't get in the way of the dark, the gruesome, and the baffling, which are the film's true hallmark. The characters are well drawn and well acted. This story is an adventure of a sort that doesn't often make it into film these days. Too bad. The rewards are many.

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13 out of 19 people found the following review useful:
Great British/European Film, 8 September 2005

Author: scarymonkey65 from United Kingdom

Just watched this film again on video (purchased off Ebay), and this film is simply magical.

I love films of all kinds from fantasy - Holes, Chocolat, Batman, through drama and thrillers, but what I love best is the telling of a story, and the way it's phrased. Hour of the Pig is just that, an excellent story developed in layers, that takes its time, because it does a fantastic job of developing the characters, mostly through the dying art of great dialogue, and some of the best British actors around.

Colin Firth and Ian Holm underpin an excellent cast, rich in dialogue, with a fantastic story. And there's the rub, you have to like stories, as there's very little action, just a fascinating twist through medieval France.

Films like this remind me why I go to the cinema which is where I first saw it over 10 years ago. It's a crime this doesn't have a DVD release.

It never goes for less than £10 secondhand, and often tops £15, for a secondhand VIDEO. Come on, whoever owns the rights to this, and get it out on DVD.

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8 out of 12 people found the following review useful:
Fresh, Well-Researched, Imaginative, 5 October 2000

Author: (oakenguy@hotmail.com) from Boston, MA

I caught this movie after reading an interview in the Washington Post with the writer/director---I *love* movies where the strangest parts are all actually true. I'm very surprised it's not more popular (though it's interesting the video box never even mentions that it's set in Medieval France!). A hidden gem.

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5 out of 7 people found the following review useful:
Under-appreciated, rewarding film, 6 November 2006

Author: dannews from United States

This film deserves to be far better known. It's clever, fun, and a terrific balance of successful Hollywood pacing with non-traditional, non-Hollywood storytelling.

Yes, it's a historical murder mystery. But it's a film about excess, as is the recent Marie Antoinette, but this one is darker and more substantive. The dialogue is sharp, often funny, and vaguely unsettling.

Like all good films, several elements work together. The photography, the costuming, the soundtrack, and the characterization all underscore the script's emphasis on indulgence. It's really very well done.

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7 out of 11 people found the following review useful:
Solid film that never overcomes quirk factor, 22 March 1999

Author: David Neilson (grsff@stthomasu.ca) from Fredericton, New Brunswick

I saw this film as "The Advocate," not that it matters, but just so you know. The place where I rented it didn't have the original box, so I had NO idea what the film was about. I was, um, surprised.

Colin Firth plays a 15th-century lawyer (called an advocate) who moves to the country from Paris. He wants to get in touch with the real essence of the law, defending the common folk and such. As it turns out, animals can be charged with crimes as well. Poor Colin finds himself defending rats and a pig in open court. (I could make a really obvious crack about the parallels to the practices of modern law, but that's a tad crass. Truthful, but crass.)

The film's claim that the secret of the movie is along the same lines of "The Crying Game" is surely meant as a joke. Still, the movie spends too much dwelling on the absurdity of defending animals and not enough time finding a story to tell. There is some twaddle about defending a beautiful gypsy woman's pig in a murder trial, but it is never gripping or, sadly, interesting.

The acting make up for the triteness of the story, though. Firth is solid and has some great scenes with the Seigneur who owns the land and the village Firth comes to reside in. There is also a small appearance by the wonderful, underrated, nuanced, subtle IAN HOLM~ as a shady priest. The cast raises the film from the status of sideshow curiosity.

While the "Crying Game" style secret is a reference to the murder case that is (ultimately) shuffled off to the side of the movie, I have no problem revealing another big secret of "The Advocate": the sow is really a hog!!!

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7 out of 12 people found the following review useful:
One of my favorite movies, 27 September 2004

Author: bobscook from Pleasanton, Northern California

The quirkiness that another reviewer objects to is part of this movie's charm. The opening scene, a hanging, where one of the co-participants (a donkey) in an unnatural act is freed upon petition of the townspeople, is simply wonderful and sets the tone for what follows.

Not pointed out by any reviewers yet is that the director seems to have reproduced scenes out of European paintings (Flemish, I believe) - the deer in the inn, the man from the inquisition seated in the tavern, the innkeeper's wife and staff gathered to meet the lawyer when he arrives at the in, and more. The lighting, colors, and scene arrangement are faithfully reproduced. This is just one example of the charms of this movie, which is virtually unknown to the public.

And one of the most delicious parts is the witch's blessing. Whenever I lend or give away a copy of this, I pointedly give it with my own blessing.

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5 out of 9 people found the following review useful:
Brilliant Movie!!, 5 November 2003

Author: darkteilani from Munich, Germany

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

*Warning! Contains some spoilers!*

An intelligent story brought to live with a brilliant cast!

"Firth" of all of course Colin Firth who is as endearing and convincing as always. He just radiates so much honesty into this character and to us being witty, sexy, passionate, sly and clever at the same time.

I regard him as the best English actor of this time!

He plays a lawyer looking for peace,justice and a quiet life in the country in order to escape political corruption. And every lawyer in real life will tell you that those are unreachable goals and the quest is just grotesque. But Richard Courtois starts with the best intentions in mind and acts accordingly, even almost completely disregarding his own safety. Partly because he naively believes the law to bring justice and not the money or the political power. A lawyer with ideals, a heart and conscience, a rarity.

Ian Holm is beautiful cast as priest Albertus who goes after women nevertheless,twisting everything the way it fits him best while always having a sharp look and the wits to escape the Inquisition and the mighty landlord. The conversations between him and the greenhorn lawyer are refreshing, funny and also frustrating when Albertus denies what he really knows to be right in order to preserve his good life. He betrays his friend Courtois by doing that looking him straight in the eye.

The crime, the perpetrator and the mystery are well developed and the truth isn't reveal until the very end. I enjoyed myself tremendously (being a lawyer myself and realizing that the madness brought before court is still the same though the laws have changed... well, a bit... *lol*)

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5 out of 10 people found the following review useful:
this is a great movie, acting wonderful by Firth, Holmes, 6 November 2000

Author: pauline m. moran (pmoran@nycap.rr.com) from schenectady, ny

I am surprised this film is not more popular. Only sorry i did not see it on the big screen, but found the plot interesting, and the acting superior, especially C.Firth and Ian holm. Some of the lines are very amusing, especially from Courtois' clerk. I have watched this many times, and never find it boring, See it for a good watch.

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0 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
Surprisingly authentic with strong contemporary relevance ., 13 May 2008

Author: john-5658 from United Kingdom

The joy of this film is the acting - it is amazing. Donald Pleasance's speech for the prosecution at the trial of the pig has you hanging on every word as if you were there in the courtroom. The witch is so telling too - so haunting in her sense of herself. Michael Gough's judge has such depth and irony, and the grand seigneur picks up on the flippancy and boredom of the upper classes in XIVth Century France with such understatement. The use of terms like the French "maitre" (for the lawyers) and the Latin "domini" (for the priest)is exactly right. "Master" or "Lord" would be quite wrong. There is no weak link at all - this is subtle individual and ensemble playing with few parallels.

Where the film has attracted criticism is over the alleged anachronism in Colin Firth's performance. I beg to disagree. Putting animals on trial was not accepted universally in Europe, and was not enjoined by the Church at all. Contemporary people could and did disagree with it in principle, otherwise it would have spread all over the Catholic world. Young lawyers were legendary for their promiscuity.

People could and did bridge the divide between those outside society and those within it, and in certain realms and in certain reigns this was actively encouraged. City people did disdain the countryside. Humanity was less tender than now but charity of all kinds was encouraged, and where Church Law appeared to limit kindness, there were people ready to ridicule the Church.

Firth's performance smacks of the Age of Petrarch and Boccaccio, and indeed the Canterbury Tales, where irony enabled a new free thinking under the nose of the Inquisition. His depiction of the young generous idealist who is lusty, self-seeking, obtuse and arrogant is a depiction of a type of person throughout recorded history.

The incredible detail in the film gives a rightness to the production rarely seen in films of this category - the back cloth to the mystery play is a medieval wonder in itself. The town itself seems a tad small to warrant resident advocates but this is a very minor detail. The inn acting as a brothel is a good touch.

The calamitous XIV Century was one of popular revolt and a refusal to accept the iniquities of the class system. This film, with the ominous threat of the Back Death advancing in the background, evokes those uneasy times with a relaxed sureness that makes it a real gem

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