Good afternoon, House of Madness captives:
What is it about fairy tales that gives them their seemingly eternal residence in our memory banks? A significant chunk of reasoning surely tells us that it's because we heard them when we were little, and our minds were gigantic mountains of clay, just begging to be molded into a bank vault of fond memories and recollections. Be that as it may, surely there's more to it than just that, as I still don't know where the beef is, and I must have seen that commercial a million fucking times before I was old enough to spell beef, let alone find it without adult supervision as the commercial would suggest. I've read hundreds of books (some without pictures!), and after enough time has elapsed, most of the story becomes foreign to me as I'm burrowing into my second or even third reading. Perhaps fairy tales are simply as magic as their name implies, and when you combine that with a child's imagination while keeping the tall tales short and sweet, it seems impossible to hear a rendition of "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" and not narrate along in your head, forgetting nothing but the place you heard it for the very first time. I'm certainly not suggesting that "Squeal" is a fairy tale that will be remembered for generations, but it is indeed a tale I won't soon forget.
Sam (Kevin Janssens) is driving through a remote part of Europe, desperately searching for his biological father Lagdzins; a man he's never met, yet alone properly pronounced his name. Sam has left everything behind in search of his father, in hopes of abandoning a life he never much cared for whilst lusting for happiness in a world filled with opportunity. As he's driving along, he asks an old man walking down the road if he's heard of his father, and after being kindly told to fuck off, is subsequently told the same by his cell phone's GPS system. As Sam is distracted, a pig wanders onto the road, and Sam can't avoid the collision, although he is able to slow enough that the pig is just wounded, so he decides to put it in his back seat while he continues driving and pondering his next move. The pig seems to be suffering, so Sam pulls over to put it out of its misery and bury it in the woods which swallow up the land's great pastures, until he's met by a woman named Kirke (Laura Silina) who shyly invites him back to her house. Upon arrival, the pig seems to magically recover, and runs back into the barn while the film's narrator informs us of the pig's angst towards humans, and his current living situation. Yes, there's a narrator helping tell the tale throughout the film, and although the idea may seem silly, it provides a sense of natural occurrence, and helps keep the atmosphere feeling more fantasy, and less reality.
After a nice meal and some vodka, Sam is shown to his bedroom where he's informed he can stay as long as he likes, while he protests on deaf ears that he'll be leaving in the morning. A short time later, Sam's sleep is interrupted by Kirke's father Gustavs (Aigars Vilims) and local nuisance Jancuks (Normunds Griestins), and he is knocked unconscious only to awaken later in the barn with a chain around his neck, while he is given the ins and outs of how his new life is going to work. Jancuks's father Vilhelms (Guntis Pilsums) and his partner Marks (Juris Bartkevics) show up during Sam's initiation, and are eager to exclaim their desire to buy Sam along with the group of pigs they came for, but Gustavs makes it clear Sam is not for sale, as he has special plans for his newfound prisoner. Just what those plans are, and how Sam reacts to them is indeed a bizarre tale into madness, and as Sam adapts to his new environment he must decide if a world consisting of pigs amongst humans isn't in fact reversed, and if so, is this the life he traveled so far to find, or is it all just one big fairy tale he so wants to bring a happy ending to? The Big Bad Wolf won't be coming after Sam and his pals over those three other pigs, but they'd do in a pinch inside a fantasy world exploding with familiarity, and won't easily be forgotten.
Madness Meter: 6.8/10
NB
