Saving my Pig aka Mon Cochon et Moi, written and directed by Frank Dobrin - Eight out of 10

Saving my Pig aka Mon Cochon et Moi, written and directed by Frank Dobrin

Eight out of 10

Now that he has a Russian passport – after refusing to pay the exorbitant taxes for the rich imposed by the former French president Hollande – the former Super Actor Gerard Depardieu acts in strange places.

Saving my Pig was filmed in…Bulgaria.

Let us be clear, this is not one of a long series of outstanding, overwhelming, phenomenal performances of one of the best actors in the world – only a couple of decades ago:

Danton, Cyrano de Bergerac, Dumas, La Vie en Rose, Tous Les Matins Du Monde, Camille, Police, Jean de Florette, The Last Metro, My American Uncle, Loulou, Sous Le Soleil de Satan and so many others…

In this Bulgarian feature, Depardieu plays a grandfather, Vania, who lives in the house with his family, but he only loves and has a solid, good relationship with his granddaughter, Elena.

They are very poor – Bulgaria and our own Romania are at the bottom of the lists in the European Union when the issue of prosperity, facilities is brought up and it is much worse in the countryside.

Vania agrees to the idea of buying a dog and he is as excited as the much younger Elena is.

Nevertheless, a nasty surprise is waiting for him, when Krazimir comes home with a bundle, and covered with a blanket is…

A small pig!

Of course, we can think about Babe – Pig in the City and there are similarities, albeit this feature would not cause a scandal in Hollywood.

Indeed, so far, no critic has written a note on this motion picture, at least none to connect with IMDB.

Babe has created serious storms and convulsions in its day, when it stole the day from Get Shorty – the latter being a fantastic, exceptional comedy, forgotten at the major Awards where Babe was preferred.

Outraged as he is by the sight of a pig, instead of the promised dog, the hero is told that they can always eat the animal.

They cannot do that with a dog and they all have to think about the destitution they face…

However, when the time comes, just a few months - maybe two –later to slaughter the animal, Vania is devastated.

He tries to say that it is too early and he has the full support of Elena, which is not enough alas to change the fate of the poor animal.

Unless something drastic is tried and the old man has a cunning plan – like Baldrick in Blackadder.

This is one of the few amusing moments, when the hero tries to put the family to sleep, with the exception of his ally, and embark on the final adventure, but it is not so easy.

Nora and her husband are watching flabbergasted as the old man pretends to go outside and exercise – there is little left for him to do except some pushups or martial arts.

He was trying to get his old car – an infamous Trabant, an ancient East German model with the body made out of plasticized carton – and smuggle Simy, the pig, and thus save him.

The humor does not stop here, for the kind Vania talks to the animal, demanding that he stops the awful smells, or else he cannot cope with them and he will take it to the slaughterhouse himself.

The plan is to take Simy to turkey, which would be the Promised Land for the pet, given that Muslims do not eat pork and thus would not consider killing him, but it is not an easy task.

The hero meets with what looks like a Gipsy caravan, where he is welcomed and given food and drink, only to have his dear friend sneaked out and prepared for the cooking pot.

Saving My Pig is not the film of the year – although in a strange way, I enjoyed it more than the hyper acclaimed A Star is Born…Depardieu, passé as he is, could be more charming than Lady Gaga, the star with meat dresses aka clothes made of meat…