History Film / TheHourOfThePig

* HairyGirl: Accurately for the era, all women who appear naked have unshaved pubic hair.

* {{Fanservice}}:

* SerialKiller: [[spoiler:The Seigneur's son, who targets the Jewish boys as their low status makes them highly vulnerable (Jews couldn't testify in court, for instance) and he can get away with it more easily. Plus of course his father [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections being their lord helps]]]].

* SerialKiller: [[spoiler:The Seigneur's son, who targets the Jewish boys as their low status makes them highly vulnerable (Jews couldn't testify in court, for instance) and he can get away with it more easily. Plus of course his father [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections being the lord helps]].

Maître Richard Courtois (Firth), a lawyer, has left Paris with his clerk Mathieu, traveling to Abbeville in Ponthieu, then an independent region in Renaissance-era France, for what they believe will be a quiet, rural existence. However, the first thing they witness on arriving in the town is a man condemned for bestiality about to be hanged at the side of the donkey he sodomized. Then a pardon is given due to a mass petition from the villagers... on the donkey's behalf, who is deemed innocent, while the convicted man is hanged. After this strange arrival, Courtois quickly takes up many backlogged cases. His first is defending a farmer accused of killing his wife's lover. Courtois gets him acquitted, at which the farmer admits his guilt to him by saying "Should have done 'im years ago," and promises to help Courtois in any way he can.

A boy is found killed in town, which becomes the focus of the main plot later. Next, Courtois defends a woman named Jeannine accused of witchcraft, after protesting her judicial torture and making friends with a cheerfully corrupt parish priest (Holm) who doubts the reality of witchcraft, prescribing it rather to hallucinations. Courtois requests that rats be summoned to court so they can testify that she did not order them to infect her neighbor; when the rats fail to appear this charge is dismissed. Courtois overlooks a difference between French and Ponthieu law, however, so Jeannine is sentenced to be hanged anyway. While she is led away, Jeannine says "There is darkness all about you; you can bring the light. Look to the boy, Maître. Look to the boy." Before she is hanged, Jeannine says she will not curse but bless the village, prophesying for the villagers that a fine Knight will come to deliver them from their lies and evil. Courtois also engages in a sexual encounter with the maid in the inn he is staying at that appears to come out of nowhere.

He encounters the case of the murdered boy, who is Jewish, after a pig is charged as the killer and its owners, a group of Moors passing through, appeal for him to defend it. Courtois declines, even when Samira (Annabi), a beautiful dancer, offers him her body as payment, which he refuses. In return, he offers her enough money to buy two pigs, but Samira rejects this. Courtois now takes up the case, and quickly learns there is more to the death of the boy than initially appears. The local lord Jehan d'Auferre (Williamson), Seigneur of Abbeville, seeks to influence Courtois into dropping the matter, subtly offering him money or the hand of his daughter. Both his daughter and son appear eccentric to the point of being insane. The son in particular shows traits of what would now be called sociopathy, as his main pastime seems to be torturing birds. D'Auferre also reveals that his ancestors were Cathars, a [[UsefulNotes/{{Gnosticism}} Gnostic]] Christian sect condemned for heresy and destroyed by the Church. There are hints the region of Ponthieu was once home to many of them, although what this has to do with anything remains unclear. Courtois engages in a relationship with Samira that soon is the talk of the town. D'Auferre exercises his feudal right to preside as judge at the trial of the pig, using knowledge of this against Courtois, warning him to let it be put to death.

The case seems to be over, but then the Advent festival begins and trial is adjourned. The aged public prosecutor Pincheone (Pleasence) reveals that he moved from Paris just like Courtois for an opportunity to stand out that was not possible there, but he urges him to go back and not waste a career among superstitious peasants. Despite this, Courtois begins to have a house built. While laying the foundation, however, the body of another Jewish boy killed a year earlier is uncovered. Courtois begins to suspect that a human killer was responsible, and the pig has been falsely accused. He discovers the Seigneur is part of a secret society, yet it is not engaged in the occult, but rather price-fixing. At a Christmas Day banquet held by the Seigneur, Courtois narrowly rescues Samira from arrest when she pulls a knife on the Seigneur's son after he pours wine on her blouse. On that same night, he rescues a boy from a masked man on horseback with an axe. The film then builds to a strong conclusion.

* SerialKiller: [[spoiler:The Seigneur's son, who targets the Jewish boys as their low status makes them highly vulnerable (Jews couldn't testify in court, for instance) and he can get away with it more easily]].

* TruthInTelevision: As stated above, the animal trials really occurred, with many events the film depicts based on actual cases. Maître Richard Courtois was also based on a real man, Bartholomew Chassenee, famous as an advocate in 16th-century France. The skepticism of the priest toward witchcraft is also probable, since the Catholic church mostly disclaimed it. Thus it's unlikely another priest or him would be burned for denying it, as he claims.

A 1993 British film, released in the United States as ''The Advocate'', written and directed by Leslie Megahey and starring Creator/ColinFirth, Creator/IanHolm, Creator/DonaldPleasence, Amina Annabi and Nicol Williamson. Much of its plot is based on [[TruthInTelevision real historical trials of animals in late medieval France]]. See [[http://www.cabinetmagazine.org/issues/4/animalsontrial.php here]] for one source.

A 1993 film, released in the United States as ''The Advocate'', starring Colin Firth, Creator/IanHolm, Donald Pleasence, Amina Annabi and Nicol Williamson. Much of its plot is based on [[TruthInTelevision real historical trials of animals in late medieval France]]. See [[http://www.cabinetmagazine.org/issues/4/animalsontrial.php here]] for one source.

* FrameUp: The pig, unsurprisingly.

A 1993 film, released in the United States as ''The Advocate'', starring Colin Firth, Ian Holm, Donald Pleasence, Amina Annabi and Nicol Williamson. Much of its plot is based on [[TruthInTelevision real historical trials of animals in late medieval France]]. See [[http://www.cabinetmagazine.org/issues/4/animalsontrial.php here]] for one source.

* SerialKiller: [[spoiler:The Seigneur's son, who targets the Jewish boys as their low status makes them highly vulnerable (Jews can't testify in court, for instance) and he can get away with it more easily]].

* TruthInTelevision: As stated above, the animal trials really occurred, with many events the film depicts based on actual cases. Maître Richard Courtois was also based on a real man, Bartholomew Chassenee, famous as an advocate in 15th century France. The skepticism of the priest toward witchcraft is also probable, since the Catholic church mostly disclaimed it. Thus it's unlikely another priest or him would be burned for denying it, as he claims.

* CreatorBacklash: Harvey Weinstein (former head of MiramaxFilms and co-founder of WeinsteinCompany) called it the worst film he ever distributed. Seeing how he's been distributor of a lot of bad movies, this probably says something.

* TruthInTelevision: As stated above, the animal trials really occurred, with many events the film depicts based on actual cases. Maître Richard Courtois was also based on a real man, Bartholomew Chassenee, famous as an advocate in 15th century France. The skepticism of the priest toward witchcraft is also probable, since the Catholic church mostly disclaimed it. Thus it's unlikely another priest or him would be burned for disproving it, as he indicates.

* TruthInTelevision: As stated above, the animal trials really occurred, with many events the film depicts based on actual cases. Maître Richard Courtois was also based on a real man, Bartholomew Chassenee, famous as an advocate in 15th century France. The skepticism of the priest toward witchcraft is also probable, since the Catholic church mostly disclaimed it.

* TruthInTelevision: As stated above, the animal trials really occurred, with many events the film depicts based on actual cases. Maître Richard Courtois was also a real person, famous as an advocate in middle 15th-century France. The skepticism of the priest toward witchcraft is also probable, since the Catholic church mostly disclaimed it.

Maître Richard Courtois (Firth), a lawyer, has left Paris with his clerk Mathieu, traveling to Abbeville in Ponthieu, then an independent region in Renaissance-era France, for what they believe will be a quiet, rural existence. However, the first thing they witness on arriving in the town is a man condemned for bestiality about to be hanged at the side of the donkey he sodomized. Then a pardon is given due to a mass petition from the villagers... on the donkey's behalf, who is deemed innocent, while the convicted man is hanged. After this strange arrival, Courtois quickly takes up many backlogged cases. His first is defending a farmer accused of killing his wife's lover. Courtois gets him acquitted, at which the farmer admits his guilt to him by saying "should have done 'im years ago," and promises to help Courtois in any way he can.

He encounters the case of the murdered boy, who is Jewish, after a pig is charged as the killer and its owners, a group of Moors passing through, appeal for him to defend it. Courtois declines, even when Samira (Annabi), a beautiful dancer, offers him her body as payment, which he refuses. In return, he offers her enough money to buy two pigs, but Samira rejects this. Courtois now takes up the case, and quickly learns there is more to the death of the boy than initially appears. The local lord Jehan d'Auferre (Williamson), Seigneur of Abbeville, seeks to influence Courtois into dropping the matter, subtly offering him money or the hand of his daughter. Both his daughter and son appear eccentric to the point of being insane. The son in particular, showing traits of what would now be called sociopathy, as his main pastime seems to be torturing birds. D'Auferre also reveals that his ancestors were Cathars, a [[UsefulNotes/{{Gnosticism}} Gnostic]] Christian sect condemned for heresy and destroyed by the Church. There are hints the region of Ponthieu was once home to many Gnostics, though what this has to do with anything remains unclear. Courtois engages in a relationship with Samira that soon is the talk of the town. D'Auferre exercises his feudal right to preside as judge at the trial of the pig, using knowledge of this against Courtois, warning him to let it be put to death.

!!The film contains examples of the following tropes:
* BurnTheWitch: Jeannine.

* OffOnATechnicality: [[ZigZaggingTrope Played straight at first, and then Inverted terribly]]. Jeannine, accused of witchcraft, has a charge dismissed this way, but then gets ''convicted'' due to an aspect of Ponthieu law Courtois didn't know about.

* SerialKiller: [[spoiler:The Seigneur's son, who targets the Jewish boys as their low status makes them highly vulnerable (they can't legally testify in court, for instance) and he can get away with it more easily]].

* TruthInTelevision: As stated above, the animal trials really occurred, with many events the film depicts based on actual cases. Maître Richard Courtois was also a real person, famous as an advocate in middle 15-century France. The skepticism of the priest toward witchcraft is also probable, since the Catholic church mostly disclaimed it.

* TruthInTelevision: As stated above, the animal trials really occurred, with many events the film depicts based on actual cases. Maître Richard Courtois was also a real person, famous as an advocate in middle 15-century France.

Maître Richard Courtois (Firth), a lawyer, has left Paris with his clerk Mathieu, traveling to Abbeville in Ponthieu, then an independent region in Renaissance-era France, for what they believe will be a quiet, rural existence. However, the first thing they witness on arriving in the town is a man condemned for bestiality about to be hanged at the side of the donkey he sodomized. Then a pardon is given due to a mass petition from the villagers... on the donkey's behalf, who is deemed innocent, while the convicted man is hanged. After this strange arrival, Courtois quickly takes up many backlogged cases. His first is defending a farmer accused of killing his wife's lover. Courtois gets him acquitted, at which the farmer confides on his victim that he "should have done 'im years ago," and promises to help Courtois in any way he can.

He encounters the case of the murdered boy, who is Jewish, after a pig is charged as the killer and its owners, a group of Moors passing through, appeal for him to defend it. Courtois declines, even when Samira (Annabi), a beautiful dancer, offers him her body as payment, which he refuses. In return, he offers her enough money to buy two pigs, but Samira rejects this. Courtois now takes up the case, and quickly learns there is more to the death of the boy than initially appears. Jehan d'Auferre (Williamson), Seigneur of Abbeville, seeks to influence Courtois into dropping the matter, subtly offering him money or the hand of his daughter. Both his daughter and son appear eccentric to the point of being insane. The son in particular, showing traits of what would now be called sociopathy, as his main pastime seems to be torturing birds. D'Auffrey also reveals that his ancestors were Cathars, a [[UsefulNotes/{{Gnosticism}} Gnostic Christian sect condemned as heresy and destroyed by the Church]]. There are hints the region of Ponthieu was once home to many Gnostics, though what this has to do with anything remains unclear. Courtois engages in a relationship with Samira that soon is the talk of the town. D'Auferre exercises his feudal right to preside as judge at the trial of the pig, using knowledge of this against Courtois, warning him to let it be put to death.

The case seems to be over, but then the Advent festival begins and trial is adjourned. The aged public prosecutor Pincheone (Pleasence) reveals that he moved from Paris just like Courtois for an opportunity to stand out that was not possible there, but he urges him to go back and not waste a career among superstitious peasants. Despite this, Courtois begins to have a house built. While laying the foundation, however, the body of another Jewish boy killed a year earlier is uncovered. Courtois begins to suspect that a human killer was responsible, and the pig has been falsely accused. He discovers the Seigneur is part of a secret society, yet it is not engaged in the occult, but rather price-fixing. At a Christmas Day banquet held by the Seigneur, Courtois narrowly rescues Samira from arrest when she pulls a knife on the Seigneur's son, who poured wine on her blouse. On that same night, he rescues a boy from a masked man on horseback with an axe. The film then builds to a strong conclusion.

* EroticDream: Courtois has one of Samira just before he gets woken up by the maid, who sees how "happy" it made him, and...CoitusEnsues.

Maître Richard Courtois (Firth), a lawyer, has left Paris with his clerk Mathieu, traveling to Abbeville in Ponthieu, an independent region in modern northern France, for what they believe will be a quiet, rural existence. However, the first thing they witness on arriving in the town is a man condemned for bestiality about to be hanged at the side of the donkey he sodomized. At the last time, a pardon is given due to a mass petition from the villagers...on the donkey's behalf, who is deemed innocent. After this strange arrival, Courtois quickly takes up many backlogged cases. His first is defending a farmer accused of killing his wife's lover. Courtois gets him acquitted, at which the farmer confides that he "should have killed him years ago," and promises to help Courtois in any way he can.

A boy is found killed in town, which becomes the focus of the main plot later. Next, Courtois defends a woman named Jeannine accused of witchcraft, after protesting her judicial torture and making friends with a cheerfully corrupt parish priest (Holm) who doubts the reality of witchcraft, prescribing it rather to hallucinations. Courtois requests that rats be summoned to court so they can testify that she did not order them to infect her neighbor; when the rats fail to appear this charge is dismissed. Courtois overlooks a difference between French and Ponthieu law, however, so Jeannine is sentenced to be hanged anyway. While she is led away, Jeannine says "There is darkness all about you, you can bring the light. Look to the boy, Maître. Look to the boy." Before she is hanged, Jeannine says she will not curse but bless them, prophesying to the villagers that a fine Knight will come to deliver them from their lies and evil. Courtois also engages in a sexual encounter with the maid in the inn he is staying at that seemingly comes out of nowhere.

He encounters the case of the murdered boy, who is Jewish, after a pig is charged as the killer and its owners, a group of Moors passing through, appeal for him to defend it. Courtois declines, even when Samira (Annabi), a beautiful dancer, offers him her body as payment, which he refuses. In return, he offers her enough money to buy two pigs, but Samira rejects this. Courtois now takes up the case, and quickly learns there is more to the death of the boy that initially appears. Jehan d'Auferre (Williamson), Seigneur of Abbeville, seeks to influence Courtois into dropping the matter, subtly offering him money or the hand of his daughter. Both his daughter and son are eccentric to the point of being insane. The son in particular, showing traits of what would now be called sociopathy, as his main pastime seems to be torturing birds. D'Auffrey also reveals that his ancestors were Cathars, a [[UsefulNotes/{{Gnosticism}} Gnostic Christian sect condemned as heresy and destroyed by the Roman Catholics]]. There are hints the region of Ponthieu was once home to many Gnostics, though what this has to do with anything remains unclear. Courtois engages in a relationship with Samira that soon is the talk of the town. D'Auferre exercises his feudal right to preside as judge at the trial of the pig, using knowledge of this against Courtois, warning him to let it be put to death.

The case seems to be over, but then the Advent festival begins and trial is adjourned. The aged public prosecutor Pincheone (Pleasence) reveals that he moved from Paris just like Courtois for an opportunity to stand out that was not possible there, but he urges him to go back and not waste a career among superstitious peasants. Despite this, Courtois begins to have a house built. While laying the foundation, however, the body of another Jewish boy killed a year earlier is uncovered. Courtois begins to suspect that a human killer was responsible, and the pig has been falsely accused. He discovers the Seigneur is part of a secret society, but it is not engaged in the occult, but rather price-fixing. At a Christmas Day banquet held by the Seigneur, Courtois narrowly rescues Samira from arrest when she pulls a knife on the Seigneur's son, who poured wine on her blouse. On that same night, he rescues a boy from a masked man on horseback with an axe. The film then builds to a strong conclusion.

* OffOnATechnicality: [[ZigZaggingTrope Played straight at first, and then Inverted terribly]]. Jeannine, accused of witchcraft, gets ''convicted'' due to an aspect of Ponthieu law Courtois didn't know about.
* ProphecyTwist: Jeannine's prophecy from the gallows that a fine knight will come to deliver the people of Abbeville from their lies and evil [[spoiler: at the end of the film, a knight does arrive...carrying the Black Plague. So they are "delivered" by dying from it]].
* SerialKiller: [[spoiler:The Seigneur's son, who targets the Jewish boys as their low status makes them highly vulnerable and he can get away with it more easily]].
* TheSociopath: The Seigneur's son, who is sent away to England to be "treated".
* TruthInTelevision: As stated above, the animal trials really occurred, with many events the film depicts based on actual cases. Maître Richard Courtois was also a real person, famous as an advocate in 15-century France.

* CoitusEnsues: Courtois' encounter with the maid at the inn apparently comes out of nowhere [[spoiler:until it's revealed later that the inn doubles as the town brothel, so this was all part of the services provided. Even so, it seems to be there largely as {{fanservice}}. Courtois' sleeping with Samira at a later point makes much more sense in the story line]].

* CoitusEnsues: Courtois' encounter with the maid at the inn apparently comes out of nowhere [[spoiler:until it's revealed later that the inn doubles as the town brothel, so this was all part of the services provided. Even so, it seems to be there largely as {{fanservice}}. Courtois sleeping with Samira at a later point makes much more sense in the story line]].

* SerialKiller: [[spoiler:The Seigneur's son, killing the Jewish boys as their low status makes them highly vulnerable and he can get away with it easier]].

Maître Richard Courtois (Firth), a lawyer, has left Paris with his clerk Mathieu, traveling to Abbeville in Ponthieu, an independent region in modern northern France, for what they believe will be a quiet, rural existence. However, the first thing they witness on arriving in the town is a man condemned for bestiality about to be hanged at the side of the donkey he sodomized. At the last time, a pardon is given due to a mass petition from the villagers-for the donkey, who is deemed innocent. After this strange arrival, Courtois quickly takes up many backlogged cases. His first is defending a farmer accused of killing his wife's lover. Courtois gets him acquitted, at which the farmer says he should have killed the man years ago, and pledges to help Courtois in any way he can.

* OffOnATechnicality: Inverted terribly. Jeannine, accused of witchcraft, gets ''convicted'' due to an aspect of Ponthieu law Courtois didn't know about.

* EroticDream: Courtois has one of Samira just before he gets woken up by the maid, who sees how [[IfYouKnowWhatIMean "happy"]] it made him, and...CoitusEnsues.

A 1993 film, released in the US as The Advocate, starring Colin Firth, Ian Holm, Donald Pleasence, Amina Annabi, and Nicol Williamson. Much of its plot is based on [[TruthInTelevision real historical trials of animals in late medieval France]]. See [[http://www.cabinetmagazine.org/issues/4/animalsontrial.php here]] for one source. Maître Richard Courtois (Firth), a lawyer, has left Paris with his clerk Mathieu, traveling to Abbeville in Ponthieu, an independent region in modern northern France for what they believe will be a quiet, rural existence. However, the first thing they witness on arriving in the town is a man condemned for bestiality about to be hanged at the side of the donkey he sodomized. At the last time, a pardon is given due to a mass petition from the villagers-for the donkey, who is deemed innocent. After this strange arrival, Courtois quickly takes up many backlogged cases. His first is defending a farmer accused of killing his wife's lover. Courtois gets him acquitted, at which the farmer says he should have killed the man years ago, and pledges to help Courtois in any way he can. A boy is found killed in town, which becomes the focus of the main plot later. Next Courtois defends a woman named Jeannine accused of witchcraft, after protesting her judicial torture and making friends with a cheerfully corrupt parish priest (Holm) who doubts the reality of witchcraft, prescribing it rather to hallucinations. Courtois requests that rats be summoned to court so they can testify she did not order them to infect her neighbor; when the rats fail to appear this charge is dismissed. Courtois overlooks a difference between French and Ponthieu law, however, so Jeannine is sentenced to be hanged anyway. While she is led away, Jeannine says "There is darkness all about you, you can bring the light. Look to the boy, Maître. Look to the boy." Before she is hanged, Jeannine says she will not curse but bless them, prophesying to the villagers that a fine Knight will come to deliver them from their lies and evil. Courtois also engages in a sexual encounter with the maid in the inn he is staying at that seemingly comes out of nowhere.

He encounters the case of the murdered boy, who is Jewish, after a pig is charged as the killer and its owners, a group of Moors passing through, appeal for him to defend it. Courtois declines, even when Samira (Annabi), a beautiful dancer, offers him her body as payment, which he refuses. In return, he offers her enough money to buy two pigs, but Samira rejects this. Courtois now takes up the case, and quickly learns there is more to the death of the boy that initially appears. Jehan d'Auferre (Williamson), Seigneur of Abbeville, seeks to influence Courtois into dropping the matter, subtly offering him money or the hand of his daughter. Both his daughter and son are eccentric to the point of being insane. The son in particular, showing traits of what would now be called sociopathy, as his main pastime seems to be torturing birds. D'Auffrey also reveals that his ancestors were Cathars, a [[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/UsefulNotes/Gnosticism Gnostic Christian sect condemned as heresy and destroyed by the Catholics]]. There are hints the region of Ponthieu was once home to many Gnostics, though what this has to do with anything remains unclear. Courtois engages in a relationship with Samira that soon is the talk of the town. D'Auferre exercises his feudal right to preside as judge at the trial of the pig, using knowledge of this against Courtois, warning him to let it be put to death. The case seems to be over, but then the Advent festival begins and trial is adjourned. The aged public prosecutor Pincheone (Pleasence) reveals that he moved from Paris just like Courtois for an opportunity to stand out that was not possible there, but he urges him to go back and not waste a career among superstitious peasants. Despite this, Courtois begins to have a house built. While laying the foundation, however, the body of another Jewish boy killed a year earlier is uncovered. Courtois begins to suspect that a human killer was responsible, and the pig has been falsely accused. He discovers the Seigneur is part of a secret society, but it is not engaged in the occult, but rather price-fixing. At a Christmas Day banquet held by the Seigneur, Courtois narrowly rescues Samira from arrest when she pulls a knife on the Seigneur's son, who poured wine on her blouse. On that same night, he rescues a boy from a masked man on horseback with an axe. The film then builds to a strong conclusion.

!!The film contains examples from the following tropes:

* CloudCuckoolander: Both the Seigneur's children qualify, though his son is also TheSociopath.
* CoitusEnsues: Courtois' encounter with the maid at the inn apparently comes out of nowhere [[spoiler: until it's revealed later that the inn doubles as the town brothel, so this was all part of the services provided. Even so, it seems to be there largely as FanService. Courtois sleeping with Samira at a later point makes much more sense in the story line]].

* SerialKiller: [[spoiler: The Seigneur's son, killing the Jewish boys as their low status makes them highly vulnerable and he can get away with it easier]].
* TheSociopath: The Seigneur's son, who is sent away to England to be "treated."