Considering the subject matter and the explicit way in which it’s presentedÑuncensored firsthand accounts played over stunning visual reenactmentsÑI was surprised by how utterly dull Zoo is. Due, in part, to the filmmaker’s insistence that we focus on the complexity of the issue involved—people whose love of animals leads unthinkably to sex—rather than the acts committed, we are promised something more than the torrid, sensationalistic angle that usually surrounds stories like this; usually we would expect to be repulsed, and to have figures ready to absorb our disdain. But by constructing his film around actors rather than interviewees, director Robinson Devor takes away the directness; the prospect of an immediate emotional reaction is gone. But the voiceovers provide almost no background; if these men were suburban husbands, with loving kids and secure professions, my reaction would be different. But the only real information we get on them, outside of Mr. Hands, is that one drives truck and another looks like a child molester. This is the story of a moment in time, when these men were finally caught, of the ensuing pandemonium, and not of the men themselves.
by Adam Balz | Source: Velocity/ThinkFilm DVD
02 Oct 2007 12:22 PM | Submit Comment
