Written and directed by Cathy Yan
Starring Zazie Beetz, Mason Lee, Meng Li
Not Rated
Runtime: 2 hours 2 minutes
In theaters May 28, also streaming on MUBI

by Stacey Osbeck, Staff Writer

The rapidly rising Chinese economy and a 2013 true life incident of thousands of dead pigs floating in the Huangpu River act as backdrops to writer-director Cathy Yan’s feature film debut, Dead Pigs.  This dramedy deftly explores all the irony that comes with new possibilities and rudderless upward mobility.  For all its laughs, Dead Pigs at its core ponders a deeper question that only rarely bubbles to the surface: with all this new wealth, opportunity and disposable income, what holds true value? 

The film spans the spectrum of the different classes.  The struggling busboy Zhen, (Mason Lee, director Ang Lee’s son), Old Wang (Haoyu Yang) the pig farmer who has enough credit from gangsters to invest in VR, Candy (Vivian Wu) the beauty Salon guru who runs a beauty empire equipped with a beauty army (more on that later), Sean Landry (David Rysdahl) an American expat hustling to make a name for himself in the world of architecture, and Xia Xia (Meng Li) the rich affected girl, born to money and privilege.  Five lives intersecting in surprising ways. 

The film opens with a shot of crystal clear waters, pristine and peaceful.  It turns out to be a VR demonstration so enchanting that the lowly pig farmer, Old Wang, not only buys a home console, but invests in the company.  When his pigs begin inexplicably dying, he dumps them in a river.  Old Wang doesn’t give much thought on how he could do his part to create a reality of a beautiful waterway. He’s fine with throwing rotting carcasses over the bridge while indulging in the virtual reality of clean water. 

In contrast, Candy runs a successful beauty salon.  Customers and employees adore her.  Mornings before the shop opens, she runs drills with her staff.  In unison they shout out the virtues of their mission to lead the beauty industry and make life beautiful.  They round out the pep rally with self-encouragement: ‘I am the best! I am talented!’ 

Candy tires of explaining to developers that there isn’t a price they can put on her memories.  She chooses to remain in her old family home which has real value to her, but the house now exists in an expanse of rubble and loose bricks where all her neighbors have sold out.  Three generations have lived here and staying keeps them close to her.  Candy also puts great care and love into her homing pigeons, birds who no matter how far away you send them will always find their way back home.   

Sean, the American architect, makes a living creating facades.  At his pitch to Shanghai developers, he declares his new plans for residency towers, built around a replica of a Spanish cathedral, will deliver a genuine Spanish experience.  To seal the deal Sean ends the meeting with Chinese flamenco dancers.  In addition to his main occupation as an architect of the authentic, he stumbles upon a side gig as an actor of sorts, showing up to specific gatherings as a wealthy, worldly foreigner to add glamour to whatever that group is selling.  It’s a lonely life, but it’s getting him ahead.  Sean’s later caught off guard when he discovers a woman he meets in a bar, he thought he was having a real connection with, is a prostitute.  He almost can’t believe there’s someone else commodifying an experience that should be genuine.   

Whereby the delightful beauticians militantly shout out their morale boosts, the architect quietly sits in his chauffeured car listening to self-esteem tapes: ‘I am important.  I will succeed’.  Trying to convince himself that he holds some type of worth.

With capitalism opening all these new doors there’s a deeper layer to these stories of converging ambitions and dreams.  It lies in recognizing some things money can’t buy: memories, home, the wellbeing and health of a loved one. These things are out there, they’re just hard to find, like a lone house in a field of rubble.   

Dead Pigs hits the right balance of funny and heart.  Vivian Wu, as Candy, delivers a sparkling performance you won’t soon forget.  I highly recommend this film even for people who aren’t usually into foreign language pictures.