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''The Hour of the Pig'' is a 1993
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
/
French film by writer/director
Leslie Megahey
Norman Leslie Megahey (22 December 1944 – 27 August 2022) was a British television producer, director and writer.
Born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, the son of Thomas Megahey (a minister) and Beatrice (née Walton), Leslie Megahey was educated ...
, produced by the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
. The film stars
Colin Firth
Colin Andrew Firth (born 10 September 1960) is an English actor and producer. He was identified in the mid-1980s with the " Brit Pack" of rising young British actors, undertaking a challenging series of roles, including leading roles in '' A M ...
,
Ian Holm
Sir Ian Holm Cuthbert (12 September 1931 – 19 June 2020) was an English actor who was knighted in 1998 for his contributions to theatre and film. Beginning his career on the British stage as a standout member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, ...
,
Donald Pleasence
Donald Henry Pleasence (; 5 October 1919 – 2 February 1995) was an English actor. He began his career on stage in the West End before transitioning into a screen career, where he played numerous supporting and character roles including RAF ...
,
Nicol Williamson
Thomas Nicol Williamson (14 September 1936 – 16 December 2011) was a Scottish actor, once described by playwright John Osborne as "the greatest actor since Marlon Brando". He was also described by Samuel Beckett as "touched by genius" and view ...
,
Jim Carter and
Amina Annabi
Amina Annabi ( ar, أمينة العنابي, Amīna al-ʿAnnābī; born 5 March 1962) is a French-Tunisian singer-songwriter and actress. She finished second in the tied 1991 Eurovision Song Contest, held in Rome, after a countback, scoring equa ...
. It was released in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
as ''The Advocate''. The film is usually categorised as a
drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...
, although it could also be classified as a
mystery
Mystery, The Mystery, Mysteries or The Mysteries may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters
*Mystery, a cat character in ''Emily the Strange''
Films
* ''Mystery'' (2012 film), a 2012 Chinese drama film
* ''Mystery'' ( ...
or a
black comedy
Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discus ...
.
For its UK theatrical release, the film was given a
15 certificate, while the North American release was
rated R Rated R refers to movies (and also to TV shows and video games in certain systems) that have been given a "restricted" rating by one of the following film rating systems:
* Motion Picture Association of America film rating system
* Canadian Home Vid ...
, primarily due to its nudity and sexual content.
Plot
''The Hour of the Pig'' is set in
15th-century France and is based upon the career and case files of
Bartholomew Chassenee
Bartholomew (Aramaic: ; grc, Βαρθολομαῖος, translit=Bartholomaîos; la, Bartholomaeus; arm, Բարթողիմէոս; cop, ⲃⲁⲣⲑⲟⲗⲟⲙⲉⲟⲥ; he, בר-תולמי, translit=bar-Tôlmay; ar, بَرثُولَماو ...
, an actual lawyer of the time who served as an advocate for animals who were accused of crimes.
[Marston, David W.]
"Entertaining stories fill docket in court lore"
''Baltimore Sun'', 4 September 2005 At the time,
animal trial
In legal history, an animal trial was the criminal trial of a non-human animal. Such trials are recorded as having taken place in Europe from the thirteenth century until the eighteenth. In modern times, it is considered in most criminal justic ...
s were used to determine if animals were the perpetrators of
supernatural
Supernatural refers to phenomena or entities that are beyond the laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin (above, beyond, or outside of) + (nature) Though the corollary term "nature", has had multiple meanings si ...
mayhem.
[Kadri, Sadakat]
"The Trial: A History from Socrates to O.J. Simpson"
''HarperCollins'', 3 July 2006 () Animals were subject to the same civil laws and penalties as human beings under
French law
The Law of France refers to the legal system in the French Republic, which is a civil law legal system primarily based on legal codes and statutes, with case law also playing an important role. The most influential of the French legal codes is ...
, 1403–1596.
Richard Courtois (Firth) and his clerk Mathieu (Carter) have left the decadence of
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
in order to practise
law
Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...
in what they believe to be a quiet rural village,
Abbeville
Abbeville (, vls, Abbekerke, pcd, Advile) is a commune in the Somme department and in Hauts-de-France region in northern France.
It is the chef-lieu of one of the arrondissements of Somme. Located on the river Somme, it was the capital of ...
, in the province of
Ponthieu
Ponthieu (, ) was one of six feudal counties that eventually merged to become part of the Province of Picardy, in northern France.Dunbabin.France in the Making. Ch.4. The Principalities 888-987 Its chief town is Abbeville.
History
Ponthieu play ...
, then part of
Burgundy
Burgundy (; french: link=no, Bourgogne ) is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. The c ...
rather than France. Courtois quickly becomes involved in a number of back-logged cases.
For his first case, he defends a farmer who is accused of killing his wife's lover. Courtois gets him acquitted (the farmer mutters, "I should have done him years ago" as he leaves and offers to help Courtois any time). In his next case, Courtois fails to save Jeannine, a woman accused of
witchcraft
Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have us ...
. He asks for rats to be called as witnesses to testify that she did not bribe them to infect her neighbor; when the rats do not appear the following day as summoned, this charge is struck off. However, Courtois is unfamiliar with the difference between the Roman law of France and the Ponthieu
customary law
A legal custom is the established pattern of behavior that can be objectively verified within a particular social setting. A claim can be carried out in defense of "what has always been done and accepted by law".
Customary law (also, consuetudina ...
, and she is sentenced to be hanged anyway. As she is led away she tells Courtois, "There is darkness all about you, you can bring the light. Look to the boy, maître. Look to the boy." At her execution, Jeannine says she will not curse the town but blesses it, saying a fine knight will arrive and deliver them from their lying and evil.
Courtois takes on a case defending a pig that is accused of killing a young
Jew
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""Th ...
ish boy. The pig, however, belongs to a band of
Moors
The term Moor, derived from the ancient Mauri, is an exonym first used by Christian Europeans to designate the Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily and Malta during the Middle Ages.
Moors are not a distinct or ...
(alternatively/first thought to be
Gypsies
The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have diaspora populations located worldwide, with sign ...
, being referred to as coming from "Little Egypt") passing through town. Two of the Moors, Mahmoud (
Sami Bouajila
Sami Bouajila (born 26 May 1966) is a French actor who has won two César Awards. Bouajila has worked and acted in two Oscar nominated films ('' Days of Glory'' and '' Outside the Law''), both directed by director Rachid Bouchareb.
Early life
B ...
) and his sister Samira (Annabi), appeal to Courtois to save the pig, as it is their only source of food for the coming winter. Courtois declines. Samira later enters Courtois's room at night and quietly strips naked, offering her body in return for his services, but he refuses this. The next day he offers her enough money to purchase two pigs, but she does not accept this.
As Courtois delves deeper into the case and becomes more involved with Samira, he discovers that there is more at work than a simple murder. His work is brought to the attention of Seigneur Jehan d'Auferre (Williamson), who has his own designs on Courtois. Soon, Courtois finds that he is being used as a pawn in a complicated game of
sociopolitical
Political sociology is an Interdisciplinarity, interdisciplinary field of study concerned with exploring how governance and society interact and influence one another at the micro to macro Level of analysis, levels of analysis. Interested in the ...
intrigue that extends beyond mere racism and corruption. The Seigneur subtly offers to bribe Courtois, also hinting that his daughter Filette is available in marriage. The Seigneur's son and daughter are eccentric to the point of insanity. The son's main hobby seems to be torturing birds.
Courtois's relationship with Samira becomes common knowledge. The Seigneur decides to sit in at court and uses this knowledge to threaten Courtois into letting the pig be executed. Just as the case seems to be over, the
Advent
Advent is a Christian season of preparation for the Nativity of Christ at Christmas. It is the beginning of the liturgical year in Western Christianity.
The name was adopted from Latin "coming; arrival", translating Greek ''parousia''.
In ...
festival begins and the case is adjourned.
The prosecutor Pincheon (Pleasence) tells Courtois that he moved from Paris to Ponthieu as Courtois did, in order to shine in a village in a way he could not in Paris. He urges Courtois to go back to Paris and not waste his life among ignorant, superstitious peasants.
The skeleton of another Jewish boy who went missing over a year ago is found while Courtois's house is being built. Courtois now suspects a human
serial killer
A serial killer is typically a person who murders three or more persons,A
*
*
*
* with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant period of time between them. While most authorities set a threshold of three ...
is at large and the pig has been framed.
During the Festival of The Advent, Samira performs for a gathering of notables at the Seigneur's chateau. She is almost arrested for drawing a knife on the Seigneur's son after he pours wine down her blouse. Courtois boldly leads her away. That night, he rescues a boy from a masked horseman wielding an axe.
Courtois confronts the Seigneur, telling him his son is the killer. The Seigneur does not deny it and reveals that his son has left for England to be treated. At the trial, the pig is acquitted when Valliere, the farmer Courtois saved in his first case at Abbeville, brings in a replica pig which he claims absconded at the time of the killing.
As Courtois leaves, he sees a knight arriving just as Jeannine had foretold. After he has left, the knight takes off his armor to reveal that he bears the characteristic
bubo
A bubo (Greek βουβών, ''boubṓn'', 'groin') is adenitis or inflammation of the lymph nodes and is an example of reactive lymphadenopathy.
Classification
Buboes are a symptom of bubonic plague and occur as painful swellings in the thigh ...
es of the
Black Death
The Black Death (also known as the Pestilence, the Great Mortality or the Plague) was a bubonic plague pandemic occurring in Western Eurasia and North Africa from 1346 to 1353. It is the most fatal pandemic recorded in human history, causi ...
.
US version
''The Hour of the Pig'' was released in the United States by
Miramax
Miramax, LLC, also known as Miramax Films, is an American film and television production and distribution company founded on December 19, 1979, by brothers Harvey and Bob Weinstein, and based in Los Angeles, California.
It was initially a leadi ...
as ''The Advocate''. Harvey Weinstein was actively involved in the cuts of films distributed by Miramax, this film was no exception. For US release, the film was trimmed down, including a sex scene, that was edited in part to avoid a stronger than R rating. The name of the film was changed as part of an advertising campaign. The US film poster and opening crawl instruct the audience not to "reveal the client". The campaign did not improve sales for the film.
UK version
The UK version was released on
VHS. Only the shorter (R-rated) version of the film was released to VHS or DVD in North America. The full version has been released on DVD and screened on television in some European countries.
Changes
Besides the titles, there are many differences between ''The Advocate'' (US) and ''The Hour Of The Pig'' (UK). These include:
*US version begins with music from the film and an opening crawl of text. UK version goes straight into the film. The US and UK versions end with different text before the end credits roll.
*Different voice takes for some scenes
*Different music or no music for some scenes
*Amina Annabi's voice is dubbed in the US version
*A speech made towards the end of the film by Donald Pleasence was shortened for the US version
*In the original version, Sophie Dix gives a short voice-over at the end of the film. In the US version, Jim Carter gives a short voice-over near the beginning of the film, and near the end.
Harvey Weinstein scandal
When the
Harvey Weinstein sexual abuse allegations first broke in 2017, one of the early accusers was Sophie Dix. She had claimed that he "performed an unwelcome sexual act in her presence after she was invited up his room at the Savoy hotel 'to watch some rushes'" for ''The Hour of The Pig''. She called the experience "the single most damaging thing that's happened in my life". Some of her scenes in the UK version of the film (including an explicit sex scene), as well as a short voice over, were trimmed or cut. It has been suggested that Weinstein had done this as retribution for her attempted rejection of his advances.
References and notes
External links
Official Website for USA release on Miramax.com*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hour Of The Pig, The
1993 films
1990s historical films
Films about lawyers
Films set in the 15th century
Films set in France
British historical films
French historical films
BBC Film films
British biographical films
French biographical films
English-language French films
1990s English-language films
1990s British films
1990s French films