Swine
“Swine” is a post-apocalyptic thriller about a rebel force trying to take down a ruling legion of soldiers. It is split into five chapters, and follows different aspects of that struggle, some more personal than others. The film was originally a short film trilogy that crowdfunding helped turn into a feature length effort. Doesn’t it feel like every movie like this has that basic logline? There’s not much else to the story as that, and no real explanation as to what happened to allow for the world to be thrown into this situation- no, a film shouldn’t spell everything out, but when it comes to world building like “Swine” tries to, context helps. Having said that, director Daniel Levitch (who wrote the script with Cuitla Huezo and Ari Levitch) has a strong filmmaking vision that brings this post-apocalyptic world to life despite a very low budget.
The synopsis sent to me by the filmmakers goes as so: “With civilization in ruins, man called upon his primal instincts to survive. Hunters and scavengers alike made their way in this savage land. But when the Northern Warlords united, skulls cracked and spirits broke, as they conquered everything in their path. Now, deep in the Outlands, a partisan movement, known as Vox Populi, stands their ground against an enemy bred for battle.” Rewatching the movie a bit for writing this review, this is basically explained to us by the voiceover supplied by Wallace (Osa Wallander), whom we first see getting handcuffed to a jeep radiator for interrogation next to Erikson (Gregory Lee Kenyon), who was a member of the Legion before betraying the cause; now, he is set for execution while Wallace finds herself alone with a ruthless leader (Bollinger, played by Drew Hinckley). They manage to escape, and Erikson is taken by Wallace to her fellow rebels as Vox Populi as they try to get a foothold against the Legion that has eluded them up to this point.
If you have a hard time keeping up with this film from a narrative standpoint, I would not surprise you. There are a lot of characters who do not seem to get names, a lot of faces that certainly look similar (especially with regards to the women), and because of the short film structure, we get a lot of jumping around into different locations and settings quickly. The best way to enjoy this film is to simply go with it, enjoy the action, and look on appreciative at how well-produced the visuals and music (by Colin Clark) are for this low-budget action film (which supposedly cost $20000). When you do that, Levitch’s film moves at an entertaining pace, with little need to follow a particular narrative thread or try and follow who everyone is and what part they play. One thing I did appreciate was how many females played an important part in the story, and how many different types of roles they played; with these type of films, there’s usually only a couple of “token” female roles, but by having the film populated with females, and not just having them in the service of men, Levitch (who made the short in 2009, and the feature in 2012) gets a good jump on “Mad Max: Fury Road” in terms of making a futuristic wasteland that isn’t a total sausage fest, and has an interesting cross-section of characters. The lead performance by Wallander, whose voice we hear at the beginning and end of the film, is a great tone-setter for the film, and she makes “Swine” (a title which I am still unsure about in the context of the film) more interesting than your typical action thriller.
