Swine: Review

“Swine” was the seven minute short presented before last night’s feature “The Tripper“. It was director Sean Linton’s World Premiere and he was in house to talk a little about his film. Linton came off as a very laid back, easy going fella and told an amusing anecdote about the pig’s head that was used as a prop for the short. He had mentioned how, after three days of filming, the head, which was the real deal, began to not be so nice to be around. This elicited laughs from the audience and I feel they warmed up to him very well. After an initial technical glitch, and some dumbass yelling out in the audience because he wanted everyone to see how funny he is, the film rolled.

The opening shot sets the tone as we are presented with an old man seated at an elaborate dinner table. He is yelling and arguing with a pigs head on a stick. I got the sense that this actor has been primarily a stage actor just from the way the he presented himself. The whole time this man is arguing with the head of the swine, I am a little grossed out, knowing that the head is very real, especially during some tight shots. The old man is cussing at the head as if it was his wife and right from the start we know something is off. There are a few different shots that help perspective, but mostly we are on the outside looking in at this aquarium of the insane.

It was definitely worth it to pay attention to the end credits as they did what I love, and that is a brief, although meaningful easter egg that ties the whole film together. Linton has done a great job and I can only wonder how many monologues the old man went through, or how many times he may have ad-libbed. 

In all, a pretty decent little warm-up. I wasn’t scared, exactly, but it did do a disturbing number on me.

Here are some shots from the evening.

Director Sean Linton discusses his film.

Festival Director Adam Lopez listens to Sean Linton.

Some lucky attendees won some great prize packs.

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