Piece of Meat
2019 · 12m · Singapore
Directed by Jerrold Chong, Huang Junxiang
Genres: animation, dark comedy
Tones: absurdist, dark, surreal
A lamb cutlet, enslaved in a surreal world of sentient objects, does whatever it takes to make ends meet — navigating exploitation, family tragedy, and the indifference of the wealthy in an absurdist social allegory.
Picked by Margot
The scouts
Wordless stop-motion lamb cutlet as sex worker stand-in, Cannes Directors' Fortnight, Annecy. The object-world-as-class-allegory premise is exactly the kind of conceptual swing that earns its laurels. Singapore animation is having a moment.
A rigorously constructed stop-motion allegory from Singapore that earns its place in the Quinzaine tradition by subordinating spectacle entirely to social argument.
A Quinzaine selection where the protagonist is a literal sentient lamb cutlet — wordless stop-motion using sex-worker allegory through object-world surrealism. The audacity of the metaphor is the entire pitch and I want to see if the execution earns it.
Reviews
A very interesting animation short that manages to communicate a number of messages through a unique approach while not omitting the entertainment aspect.
Festivals
- Cannes Film Festival — Quinzaine des Cinéastes (Directors' Fortnight) 2019
- Annecy International Animated Film Festival 2019
- Busan International Film Festival 2019
- Singapore International Film Festival 2019, Best Animation, National Youth Film Awards