?O, Zoo!: The Making of a Fiction Film

MOVIE #1,856 • 🍿🍿🍿🍿 • 07.29.24 A young, eager buck bites off more than he can chew? Shocking how much this has (close to) nothing to do with or say about Greenaway (who we never see) or A Zed and Two Noughts. Director Philip Hoffman starts this off with archival found footage, ostensibly from his grandfather, who shot newsreels: a mix of animal shots (all exactly 28 seconds long) and reels from his job shooting the news. Then we begin an aimless video diary of Greenaway’s shoot which is more or less a collection of what Hoffman did in his free-time mixed with context-free imagery filmed on the Zed set. The climax of the film is a black screen set to voiceover of Hoffman recounting the story of an elephant having a heart attack, which he shot film of but didn't develop for moral reasons.

In my attempt to digest everything and anything on the work of Peter Greenaway, this was a disappointment. But as a standalone short, it's still not that good. I'm sorry. In the end we do see what at first appears to be the elephant heart attack but then, judging by the age of the stock, is clear to be footage from his grandfather. So make of that what you will. It's hard to make connections in this life and I appreciated that struggle here, if nothing else (even if that was the opposite of his intentions).

Also, FWIW (and to be fair), Hoffman would go onto have a very long and fruitful career in experimental cinema, and I do want to watch more of his stuff at some point.

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CHRONOLOGICALLY
⫷ MOVIE #1,855 - (YOU ARE HERE) - MOVIE #1,857 ⫸

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?O, Zoo!: The Making of a Fiction Film is a 1986 experimental Canadian documentary film directed by Philip Hoffman. It was released on September 1, 1986.