The King of Pigs

Though it is an animation from the Far East, this brooding, adult-orientated Korean film is like little else from the region, eschewing the hypnotic visual-lullaby style of Hayao Miyazaki and the cool, big-eyed, pop-culture overload of many anime. Instead, director Yeon Sang-ho goes for something darker and more ragged - the animation itself has an edgy, punk sensibility, and the violence is harsh by any standards. Indeed, it begins with a murder. Having killed his wife in a moment of madness, bankrupt businessman Hwang Kyung-min seeks out his childhood friend Jung Jong-suk, now a struggling writer. Together they reminisce about their unhappy years at school, where they were dismissed as "pigs" by the ruling elite of wealthy jock "dogs", and recall how they suffered in silence until dropout schoolmate Kim Chul ("The King of Pigs") struck back on their behalf. Revenge is never pretty in much of Korean cinema, and an early shocking scene that sees one of the bullies whipped in the face by Chul's belt buckle sets the tone for the gritty, unflinching revelations that follow in this bleak urban drama.