Zoology
Classics
•
1h 30m
Writer-director Ivan I. Tverdovsky’s prize-winning sophomore feature (Special Prize of the Jury at Karlovy Vary Film Festival, Best Picture at Fantastic Fest) deftly mixes the deadpan humour of Aki Kaurismäki with a poignant examination of social issues including loneliness and aging.
Natasha is a middle-aged admin employee at a zoo where her female co-workers take pleasure in making fun of her. She lives with her God-fearing mother and leads a dull existence without prospects, until one day she grows a tail. Medical examinations follow where she meets Peter, a young radiologist and her dreary life is turned upside down.
Described as “Kafka meets Cronenberg” (Hollywood Reporter) Tverdovsky’s film is a beautifully photographed portrait of Eastern Europe that recalls the recent New Romanian Cinema and features a brave and brilliant central performance from Natalya Pavlenkova.
Up Next in Classics
-
Black Test Car
Japanese maverick director Yasuzo Masumura (Blind Beast) helms a bitingly satirical espionage thriller set in the heart of the Japanese auto industry in his 1962 landmark 'Black Test Car', which launched a series of similarly themed "Black" films. In a bitter, take-no-prisoners corporate war betw...
-
Gabbeh
1996 • Iran • Directed by Mohsen Makhmalbaf
Gabbeh tells of an elderly couple who stop by a stream to wash a vividly woven traditional Persian rug ('Gabbeh'). A beautiful woman, depicted in the rug's elaborate design, suddenly appears and tells a heart-rending story of love and loss.
