Issue #2: Pig

A blind pig finds a masterpiece every now and then

I really couldn’t wait beyond the second issue of Cinema UnCaged to talk about this film.

Pig is the spark that reignited my love for Nicolas Cage movies.

(Prisoners of the Ghostland is the pair of testicle bombs that pushed me over the edge to actually start this newsletter, though. Check the trailer at the bottom.)

But before we get to the movie, I want to tell you about the seedy underbelly of this seemingly innocuous fungi pulled from the dirt near an oak tree. In this 2014 Atlantic article, journalist Ryan Jacobs does a great job of breaking down just how dangerous this very lucrative foraging operation can be, and dispels some myths about it, as well.

The high-end industry has spawned a shadowy underworld, where tax evasion, nighttime heists, counterfeits, and sabotage are not uncommon. The schemes span continents and truffle types, but all of them boil down to scarcity and cash.

Jacobs also goes over the history of using pigs as truffle hunters, although that practice has been mostly phased out considering pigs can’t stop themselves when they get to a truffle and often damage it by trying to it. That’s why many truffle hunters now employ dogs specifically trained to pick up the scent.

There are many stories about people stealing truffle hunting dogs, or even leaving poisoned meatballs in popular hunting spots to kill off another hunter’s dog, and then going back to the area with their own dog to make a few bucks.

Then there’s espionage and breaking and entering. The truffle hunting world has seen it all when it comes to one individual trying to gain the upper hand over another. I highly recommend checking out that Atlantic article.

There’s a whole other road I could travel down about the conditions truffles need to grow, and why they’re so scarce and incredibly hard to farm. It’s all really fascinating stuff but for the sake of this week’s movie, a little primer on the lengths people will go to get their hands on some truffles will suffice. If you’d like to learn more about the science of truffles, you can click through here.

Okay, now you’re ready.

The Feature Film

Pig is not the movie you expect it to be. It’s not Farmer John Wick and it’s not really like any other Nicolas Cage film.

The main character, Cage’s Robin Feld, could have easily been played by a Daniel Day Lewis-type method actor and that wouldn’t have seemed out of place. Which makes Cage’s nuanced and restrained performance all the more impressive, and exactly why he was the perfect casting choice. We feel everything with him and and no point do we point at the screen and yell, “Look, it’s Nic Cage doing the thing he does!” Pig is all the better for it.

Director Michael Sarnoski (of little else, actually) completely understands what we’ve come to expect from a Cage film and turns those expectations on their head to great effect.

In a recent CNN opinion piece, film and culture writer Sara Stewart writes about the film’s subversive tone and it’s unexpected space in the national consciousness. That is, to say, it really captures what it’s like to go through some shit.

Between the rapidly unfolding Delta variant nightmare and the UN's new report on the inevitability of major climate disasters, we're all living in a time of unparalleled anxiety and sadness. What better time for a little movie about a man, a swine and the unbearable weight of grief? Are we not all in some way Robin Feld, struggling out of the wilderness with unkempt beards and dirty faces, squinting at civilization like it's a memory we've long forgotten, trying to get back something invaluable that we've lost?

Damn. Go see this movie while it’s still in theaters.

Pig wholeheartedly earns 5 Rare White Italian Truffles out of 5.

Bonus: This is an interesting watch and absolutely has to be what Alex Wolff’s truffle dealer character was based on.

Double Bonus Trailer: