A classroom with a pig

[ASHIKAGA]

There is a new movie coming out titled 「ブタがいた教室」. The movie is based on a real story about a gradeschool teacher who, in 1990, gave his 3rd grade class a young pig to raise, and ultimately, eat. What he was trying to do was teach the kids that the meat they eat comes from a living animal.

I saw a few segments on this movie and the real story that it is based on on TV in the last week or so and found it very interesting. So, I did a little googling and found out what had really happened to the students and the pig.

The following youtube clips are of a TV documentary about the project, and in them, we see how the kids learn how much it costs to raise a pig, how to raise money, how to build a pig pen, how to feed a pig, etc. Ultimately, though, they end up thinking of the pig, whom they call "P-chan", more as a pet rather than food. Upon graduation, they are faced with the ultimate decision. Should they kill/eat P-chan or let it live by handing it over to the younger students?

From what I have read on the internet about this project, many think that this was a unique yet very benefitial project that teaches the importance of knowing where our food comes from and being more appreciative of it, and it also teaches the importance of life while many others think this is just going too far and too much to handle for young students. They also point out the mistakes made by the teacher during the project (letting the kids name the pig was one of them that is mentioned by many).

What do you think?

[ASHIKAGA]

It has been a while since I started this thread but last night, I finally had the chance to watch the movie on DVD.

While it was not terrible, it just was not as powerful as the documentary you see in the OP.
There was a few scenes where the director just lets the children debate about the fate of their beloved pig. Except for some key "speeches", these scenes looked unscripted. From what I've read, these young actors had spent a few months taking care of the pig prior to the shoot, so the emotions you see in these scenes are very real. If nothing else, this film gives you a very accurate portrayal of Japanese school children in my opinion. The problem is, as soon as an adult actor comes into a scene, it loses its air of authenticity and it gets dangerously close to the hokey-ness of those TV Movies of the week.

Anyway, I think it is worth a rental.