A final visual shock: Rising animator's haunting last film hits theaters

H, a pig that narrowly survives a mass culling during a foot-and-mouth disease outbreak, takes on a human body after tearing into the neck of the farm owner, who is already dead. Convinced that only humans can survive, H even tears off his ears, which betray his identity as a pig.

The pig's desperate struggle to become human lies at the heart of late director Hur Bum-wook's animated film “Pig That Survived Foot-and-Mouth Disease,” which opened in theaters Wednesday. Hur died at the age of 42 in July due to a fire accident. 

As gruesome as that premise is, another half-human, half-beast creature enters the story: Private First Class Choi Jeong-seok, a soldier who flees into the forest after enduring relentless bullying in the military.

After accidentally drinking water from a puddle contaminated with H's blood, Choi transforms into a giant monster known as Bigfoot.

For Choi, becoming a beast seems preferable to remaining human. Living among violent people, he fears, will only get him killed. Yet what the characters initially see as an escape ultimately becomes a gateway to hell.

Had the film been little more than an exercise in suffering, it would hardly have attracted the attention of the Annecy International Animation Film Festival, often dubbed the Cannes of animation.

The film screened in the festival's Midnight Specials section in 2024 and received a special mention in the Korean Competition at the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival that same year.

Drawing comparisons to director Yeon Sang-ho's early animated films “The King of Pigs” (2011) and “The Fake” (2013), it was hailed as a worthy successor to Korea's tradition of independent animation for adult audiences.

Hur had explored collectivism and human alienation since his feature debut, “On the White Planet” (2015). The film, about a child born with yellow skin on an otherwise colorless planet, won the grand prize at the Holland Animation Film Festival in 2015.

His second feature, “Pig That Survived Foot-and-Mouth Disease,” arrived a decade later.

It began with questions Hur asked himself after witnessing the horrifying scenes of pigs being culled during the 2013-14 foot-and-mouth disease outbreak: What if one of those pigs survived and returned? What would humanity mean to a pig that had grown up seeing only the darkest side of human beings?

Hur believed that all humans are ultimately connected, even when they appear to be in conflict with one another. To convey that idea, he had a single performer, Han Woo-jin — a performer specializing in motion capture — portray some 30 characters through motion capture.

The film's production method, which made extensive use of motion-capture technology and the 3-D software Blender, marked a first for a Korean animated feature. Despite incorporating 3-D technology, Hur retained the distinctive textures of 2-D animation to create dynamic sequences. 

“Because of the limited budget, the motion-capture work alone took three years,” Han said. “Technology advanced so dramatically during that time that we were even able to use AI to help with the finishing process.”

The film's visual style is equally distinctive.

While its animation is largely defined by jagged, sharp-edged drawings, scenes depicting bullying in schools and the military are rendered as striking, intricately detailed images reminiscent of woodblock prints.

The protagonists' deepest desires also appear as written text, much like intertitles in silent films.

When H, now able to walk on two legs, tears down a wire fence surrounding an orchard, the wild boars' reverence for him is depicted through imagery inspired by icons, the sacred paintings of the Eastern Orthodox Christian tradition.

“When I first read the screenplay, I thought it was a story about the anger of modern people living in isolation,” said designer Lee Han-soo, who oversaw character design and artwork. “Director Hur gave me the freedom to make the imagery as grotesque and vicious as I wanted. I connected with the idea that even when we find ourselves in circumstances we didn't choose, we have no choice but to confront the reality before us.”

In “Pig That Survived Foot-and-Mouth Disease,” despair passes from one being to another, which forms an endless cycle like a Möbius strip. Only one character, who holds onto compassion for humanity until the very end, leaves behind a faint glimmer of hope.

Hur's distinctive approach — confronting audiences with painful realities through imagery bordering on visual shock while prompting them to reflect on life — earned him recognition at film festivals as an emerging creative talent.

But the film, once poised to become his breakthrough work, has instead become his final work after his death in an accident on July 28.

Hur died following a fire just eight days before the film's originally scheduled Aug. 5 release. Its opening was postponed indefinitely, but efforts by his family and colleagues in the film industry eventually brought it back to theaters on Wednesday.

In an interview with the film's production company before his death, Hur acknowledged that audiences would likely find the film deeply unsettling.

“I know very well that watching this film will make the audience feel uncomfortable and distressed,” Hur said. “I could have said, 'And yet, the protagonists lived happily ever after. So hang in there, everyone.' But I thought that would be a lie and a betrayal of the audience.”

“I wanted to show reality as it is, as honestly as possible. Even if it is harsh and cruel, I hope audiences will see that animation, rather than live-action film, can go this far in Korea. To all of those who are about to have nightmares, I offer my gratitude and words of comfort.”

BY NA WON-JEONG [[email protected]]