Disco Pigs (2001)

Director:

Kirsten Sheridan

Writers:

Enda Walsh (play)
Enda Walsh (screenplay)

Release Date:

12 October 2001 (Ireland)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

90 minutes you'll never forget

Plot:

A twisted rite of passage.

Plot Keywords:

Twin | Jealousy | Birth | Hospital | Blood

Awards:

5 wins & 7 nominations

Cast

Elaine Cassidy	...	Runt / Sinead
Cillian Murphy	...	Pig / Darren
Brían F. O'Byrne	...	Gerry
Eleanor Methven	...	Bernie
Geraldine O'Rawe	...	Eileen
Darren Healy	...	Marky
Sarah Gallagher	...	Young Runt
Charles Bark	...	Young Pig
Tara Lynne O'Neill	...	Mags
Michael Rawley	...	Foxy
Eoghan Harris	...	Mr. Keane
Dawn Bradfield	...	Counsellor
Marie Mullen	...	Mrs. Monroe
Derry Power	...	Old Man
Mark Doherty	...	Salesman
Morna Regan	...	Teacher
Aoife Lowry	...	Bitch
Gavin Friday	...	Trevor
Eva Barrett	...	Dee
Mark Dunne	...	Student
Aidan Kelly	...	Young Man
Graham Roe	...	Singer
Jer O'Leary	...	Singer
Dermot Whelan	...	Student
Sarah O'Toole	...	Marky's girlfriend
Zoe Gibney	...	Pretty Student
Katie Kearns	...	Baby Runt
Jack Madden	...	Baby Pig
Enda Walsh	...	Hitchhiker
Sadhbh Cosgrove	...	Baby in station
Niamh Cosgrove	...	Mother in station
Simon Delaney	...	Ticket Cashier
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Mark Anthony Byrne	...	Disco Drunk (uncredited)

Directed by
Kirsten Sheridan

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Enda Walsh		play
Enda Walsh		screenplay

Produced by
Noëlette Buckley	....	line producer
Stephen Evans	....	executive producer
Angus Finney	....	executive producer
Ed Guiney	....	producer
Sophie Janson	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Gavin Friday
Maurice Seezer

Cinematography by
Igor Jadue-Lillo
Peter Robertson

Film Editing by
Ben Yeates

Casting by
Maureen Hughes
Amy Rowan

Production Design by
Zoe MacLeod

Art Direction by
Lesley Oakley

Costume Design by
Lorna Marie Mugan

Makeup Department
Muriel Bell	....	additional hair assistant
Brid Broadberry	....	additional hair assistant
Eileen Buggy	....	key hair stylist
Fiona Hogan	....	additional makeup assistant
Clare Lambe	....	additional makeup assistant
Roisin O'Reilly	....	additional makeup assistant
Maureen Smith	....	additional hair assistant
Margot Wilson	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Noëlette Buckley	....	production manager
Paul Tully	....	post-production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Peter Conway	....	third assistant director
Elizabeth Gill	....	first assistant director (as Liz Gill)
Mary Gough	....	assistant director
Luke Johnston	....	first assistant director
Alex Jones	....	trainee assistant director
Marcus Lynch	....	assistant director

Art Department
Deirdre Byrne	....	stand-by props trainee
Stephen Byrne	....	additional stagehand
Alan Cheevers	....	additional carpenter
Bronwyn Clohissey-Boyd	....	master painter (as Bronwyn Clohissey)
Tamara Conboy	....	assistant art director
Michael Connerty	....	additional props trainee
Darren Crimmins	....	supervising carpenter
Tom Dowling	....	construction manager
Sean Drum	....	carpenter (as Sean Drumm)
John Hand	....	stand-by carpenter
Nicola Hughes	....	props buyer trainee
Pat Kelly	....	stand-by painter
Wendy Moore Kelly	....	additional painter
Martin Kenny	....	additional painter
Emer MacAvin	....	props buyer
David Marsh	....	stand-by props
Paul McDonnell	....	stunt props
James McGetrick	....	dressing props
John McHugh	....	additional stagehand
Nuala McKernan	....	property master
Fiona Mullally	....	stand-by art director
Roy Murnane	....	plasterer
Anthony O'Hanlon	....	stagehand (as Tony O'Hanlon)
Bruce Ryder	....	storyboard artist
Alan Siggins	....	additional painter
Maurice Thompson	....	construction buyer
Noel Walsh	....	chargehand dressing prop

Sound Department
Daniel Birch	....	sound recordist (as Dan Birch)
Brian Connolly	....	sound trainee
Daniel Crowley	....	boom operator
Michelle Cunniffe	....	adr recordist
Michelle Cunniffe	....	foley recordist
Patrick Cutliffe	....	assistant sound engineer
Caoimhe Doyle	....	assistant sound editor
Caoimhe Doyle	....	foley artist
Patrick Drummond	....	supervising sound editor
John Fitzgerald	....	sound re-recording mixer
Robert Flanagan	....	boom operator
Eileen Gogan	....	assistant sound editor
John Iles	....	stereo sound consultant: Dolby
Andy Malcolm	....	foley artist
Hugo Monks	....	adr editor
Mervyn Moore	....	sound designer
Gerard Roche	....	foley mixer
Gerard Roche	....	sound re-recording mixer
Jon Stevenson	....	dialogue editor
Cathi Weldon	....	sound effects editor

Special Effects by
Aidan Byrne	....	special effects
Brendan Byrne	....	special effects
Kevin Byrne	....	special effects
Pat Redmond	....	special effects

Visual Effects by
Dolores McGinley	....	Inferno artist
Hubert Montag	....	Inferno artist
Ruairi Robinson	....	Inferno artist

Stunts
Dominick Hewitt	....	stunt driver
Eamon A. Kelly	....	stunts
Donal O'Farrell	....	stunt driver
Alan Walsh	....	stunt coordinator

Camera and Electrical Department
Garret Baldwin	....	gaffer
Tony Devlin	....	additional electrician
Billy Doyle	....	additional electrician
Paul Fagan	....	additional electrician
Jim Farrell	....	gaffer
Tim Fleming	....	focus puller
Eamon Fox	....	electrician
Sarah Francis	....	clapper loader
Michael Frawley	....	electrician
Addo Gallagher	....	electrician
Howard Gibson Steele	....	electrician
John Heffernon	....	rigger
Oisín Kelly	....	grip (as Oisin Kelly)
Rob Kelly	....	trainee grip
Dave Keogh	....	additional electrician
Stephen Murphy	....	clapper loader
Joanne Nellis	....	camera trainee
Eugene O'Sullivan	....	additional electrician
Peter O'Toole	....	best boy
Sam Phillips	....	additional grip (as Sam Philips)
Patrick Redmond	....	still photographer
Willie Smith	....	electrician
Paul Tsan	....	grip
John Watters	....	clapper loader
Ted Wellings	....	stand-by rigger

Casting Department
Holly Ní Chiardha	....	casting assistant (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Barbara Callaghan	....	additional wardrobe assistant
Clodagh Deegan	....	additional wardrobe assistant
Gill Howard	....	costume design assistant
Sarah King	....	additional wardrobe assistant
Maura MacDonald	....	wardrobe
Ciara McArdle	....	wardrobe assistant
Roisin Ryan O'Brien	....	additional wardrobe assistant
Jessica O'Leary	....	wardrobe mistress
Una Towell	....	additional wardrobe assistant (as Una Powell)

Editorial Department
Peter Ferrari	....	film grader
Mairead McIvor	....	first assistant editor

Music Department
Andrew Boland	....	music mixer
Brian Byrne	....	orchestrator
Liz Devlin	....	music production coordinator
Liz Gallacher	....	music supervisor
Kieran Lynch	....	music engineer
Caitriona Walsh	....	orchestral manager

Transportation Department
Dan Breen	....	transportation captain (as Dan Breen Snr)
Stephen Carroll	....	action vehicles
Peter Doyle	....	action vehicles coordinator
Kevin Scott	....	driver: generator

Other crew
Lorcan Berney	....	location assistant
Donnacha Brady	....	location assistant
Sandra Campbell	....	assistant production coordinator
Stephen Carthy	....	disco lighting
Peter Conway	....	assistant location manager
Geraldine Daly	....	location manager (as Ger Daly)
Dennis Davidson	....	unit publicist
Niall Delaney	....	production accountant
Lisa Drayne	....	production coordinator
Donna Fitzsymons	....	assistant accountant
Gerry Grennell	....	dialogue coach
Birch Hamilton	....	assistant to director
Neil Horner	....	title designer
Ciara Hyland	....	trainee script supervisor
Julia Jones	....	unit publicist
Nessa Linnane	....	extras coordinator
Dorothy McDonnell	....	production assistant
Catherine Morris	....	script supervisor
Jane Roche	....	production executive
Gordon Wycherley	....	location manager

Production Companies

• Irish Film Board (funding)
• Temple Film & TV Productions Ltd.

Distributors

• A-Film Home Entertainment (2004) (Netherlands) (DVD) (VHS)
• Madman Entertainment (2004) (Australia) (DVD)
• Movie Star (2007) (Sweden) (DVD)
• Vanguard Cinema (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• Vanguard Cinema (2003) (USA) (VHS)
• Vanguard Cinema (2008) (USA) (DVD) (HD DVD) (cancelled)

Special Effects

• Team FX

Other Companies

• Ardmore Sound  adr recording
• Ardmore Sound  sound post-production
• Ardmore Sound  sound re-recorded at
• Cine Electric Ltd.  lighting equipment
• Cinesite  scanning services
• Dailies 21  rushes telecine
• Editline, Dublin  lightworks
• Film Finances  completion guarantor
• Midnight Transfer  transfers
• Moving Picture Company (MPC)  titles and opticals
• Professional Negative Cutting  negative cutting
• Sapex Scripts  post-production script services
• Sapex Scripts  post-production scripts
• Sargent Disc  computer services
• Studio 51 Opticals  end title design
• The Electric Light Company  lighting equipment
• VFG  camera equipment

Also Known As:

Runtime:

93 min

Country:

Ireland

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Australia:MA | Ireland:18 | UK:15 | Australia:M (DVD rating) | Iceland:16 | Netherlands:12 | New Zealand:R16

Filming Locations:

Cork, County Cork, Ireland

Company:

Irish Film Board

Trivia:

The second song played during the credits called "So New" was written and performed by Cillian Murphy, who played Pig.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: During the flashback to Sinéad being spanked by her father Ger Canning can be heard commentating on a hurling game between Cork and Kilkenny, mentioning the names of DJ Carey, Henry Shefflin, Charlie Carter and Diarmuid O' Sullivan, who would only played with and against each other in 1999 at the earliest. The flashback was obviously intended to have been set long before then.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Runt:Once upon a time, before there was any blue, I'd take a long long nap in a brand new home. This place, it's like I make up my mind to stay in this lovely warm pink room. The thumpity thump of the heart. My only true path. I tell the noisy world outside to fuck off with all your play-actin', for Runt. She go no where, for no one. That was a time when silence was some sort of friend.
Runt:But then my mom would heave and wake all inside. And Runt, she wakes up, cause a baby can't stay still forever. A baby must be born. So hold on mom, for the little baby, she's comin' out. Push the baby! Push the head! Oh the fuckin' pain. Man cry like a baby himself. Push now! Push ya fat mommy. And I arrive into this world of mine. The light so bright, it wakes me awake with a little baby's scream.
Gerry:She's a little beaut'. A diamond darling.
Runt:And I remember seeing my old dad. So full of the happy, he was. Then nursey hand me to my mum. And she's so tired, yeah? Opened up to spit me out into this funny old world. I smile at her, cause that's what babies do. And for the one and only time, we three are a family.

Movie Connections:

Features "The Clangers: Flying (#1.1)" (1969)

Soundtrack:

Firesuite

A film that doesn't have enough words to describe its greatness

Two 16-year-olds share a birthday, a love, a language of their own and a uniquely violent world view. Disco Pigs is an electric, disturbing and violent sprint through the unique world of Pig and Runt, two 17 year old kids who were born with a special, almost psychic affinity for one another.

It's a gentle and tender story about a pure, innocent love between two inseparable people who 'want for something different' out of life, lashing out at 'the sameness of it all'. When this invisible thread between Pig and Runt is stretched to breaking point, the inseparable are about to separate and which one will survive depends on which one can break free.

I'll stick my neck out here and say that Disco Pigs has a real Clockwork Orange feel about it - its use of a lyrical communication between our two leads - a combination of baby talk and Shakespeare monologue gave me that strong impression. The lead roles also exist in their own world, oblivious and unbound by the rules that govern us all.

Pig and Runt are two kids that really don't want to grow up, but despite their enforced isolation from common reality the pressures bear upon them to change. Pig wants the relationship to move to the 'next level', but innocent Runt either doesn't understand or doesn't want that right now. She seems more interested in experiencing other boys - finding a local bartender particularly intriguing. He is frustrated that their relationship, while deep, is not deeper, and she is perhaps seeing the blinkers removed from her eyes a bit, allowing the outside world a peek in.

I've made mention of the language that is used throughout the film used by Pig and Runt; the dialogue between the two is at times heart breakingly beautiful; witness Pig's love expressed in words as he talks to himself about the beautiful passion they would both share when they would make love for the first time. It nearly made this hardened critic cry.

Disco Pigs is nothing short of a masterpiece. It is unconventional, yes, but that is the stuff of greatness. The incredible soundtrack complements the visuals perfectly and is nearly a character in its own right. My only gripe is `REMOVE THE SUBTITLES!'

If this film gets a local Australian distribution, see it. It's that simple. 10 out of 10.