User Reviews

"Pigs Will Fly" is a German, mostly German-language movie from 2002, so this one is heading closer towards its 20th anniversary and the director here is Eoin Moore, also one of several writers in charge of the script here. I will spare you the names of the other writers, you know where to find them. Anyway, Moore at that point was already a prolific filmmaker for over a decade, even if it was mostly short film that dominated his body of work. And it was by far not the only occasion that he worked with lead actor Andreas Schmidt, but he cast him frequently. Schmidt was nominated for a German Film Award for his portrayal here, so it was definitely among his career-defining works. Sadly, I must say "was" because the appreciated actor died not too long ago from cancer. And while his career took a most unexpected and sad end this way, the opposite is true for supporting actress Laura Tonke. She was also nominated for a German Film Award here, still in her 20s at that point, and not too long ago she managed to achieve the unusual feat to win both lead actress and supporting actress in the same year. Anyway, back to this one here. It is all about family really. We have a man who works as a police officer and shows very violent tendencies that stem from the physical and emotional abuse he had to endure from his father when he was young. It turned him into a violent offender as well as he keeps beating up the women in his life whenever things don't go his way, most of all when he completely without reason suspects that they cheat on him. So it is a really sobering film without comedic moments whatsoever it must be said. Certainly not a film for everybody with how bleak these almost 100 minutes are. I also wantg to add that I did not really like it for other reasons either. The movie stands and falls with how you perceive Schmidt's performance really and sadly I must say he did not win me over here and I think he did much better in other movies. Admittedly, there is nothing really objective wrong with his turn honestly, but it's all subjective to me how I saw it and how much it worked for me. Obviously I am not referring to how likable the man is. Clearly he is not, even if it becomes obvious he is a victim himself. Nonetheless, there are some good moments. I thought Tonke was indeed really good. Udo Kier is a scene stealer as always too and I sure did not expect him in this film. And the brother was convincing as well on some occasions. The poem scene is among the most heartbreaking and memorable the film has to offer I guess. Sadly with how much the film delivered there, it also could have gone for more subtlety really occasionally. The phone enws about the death felt too forced and unrealistic that it happened exactly then. The suicide bridge parts, also the crucial one at the end, felt a bit forced too, which is a pity because the film really relies so much on the question if he will jump or not right at the end, but this was never what it really was about. In my opinion, there were no suicidal tendencies on him whatsoever. Also I did not like that there was never really talk about anger management therapy. If you take all the good from this film, I think you could have turned it into an essentially half-hour short film and it could have worked better this way. Schmidt was close to miscast here and Moore did not win me over with his script and camera work either admittedly. With so many people in charge of the screenplay, I would have expected better. Maybe it was too many cooks spoiling the brother. Overall, it's certainly not a failure, but still a thumbs-down for me. I find the awards recognition slightly baffling, must have been more the subject than the execution they liked. Also not a good title. Obviously nothing to do with Pink Floyd this time. Watch something else instead.