When Pigs Fly

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matt dukes j What a fun discovery (on Criterion). WPF is an eccentric film released in 1993. If you like whimsical, off-beat stories of down-and-out oddballs in the lead roles, this is for you. Most of the film follows the gentle adventures of an aspiring, kooky musician played by Alfred Molina as he copes with the ghosts that show up with a rocking chair left to him as a gift. He befriends them and helps them and they help him too. The locations in the film, directed by Sara Driver, Jim Jarmusch's parter in life (married since 2000) and film (she's been involved in some of Jim Jarmusch's films, including producing several) are old-looking industrial buildings and run-down buildings. When such places appear in Jarmusch films (like Stranger Than Paradise) they tend to emphasize the sense of alienation felt by the characters. Here they reflect a sort of down-and-out feeling experienced by Molina's character -- a feeling suffusing the whole film. It's hard to place the film, but the bar, characters, their language (English), some cars in the film, and so on suggested to me that it was taking place somewhere on the East Coast in the USA. But it was filmed in Hamburg and Wismar, Germany. Robby Muller shot the film, so it looks great. MOMA (the museum) has a site where the story is summarized and the reviewer says it was inspired by the film TOPPER and by the sense of loss of friends during the AIDs era. Most of the characters are nice and well played. The one bad guy is the mean bar owner played by Seymour Cassel. Marianne Faithful is great as a ghost with a sad past involving Cassel's character. Molina is effective. It's a whacky film, but not slapstick. I enjoyed it. Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 08/28/25 Full Review Read all reviews

When Pigs Fly

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