ZooScope

Tag: Feature Length

  • Racing Stripes. Dir. Frederik Du Chau. Warner Bros. 2005.

    Racing stripes (Frederik Du Chau 2005) is an American sports comedy which centres on the glamourous and wealthy sport of horseracing in Kentucky. However the film does this through a comedic twist. The film has a bildungsroman performance narrative and follows the journey of a young girl and her unconventional mount Stripes, a zebra. After a…

  • Baraka. Dir. Ron Frike. The Samuel Goldwyn Company. 1992.

    Ron Fricke’s 1992 documentary film Baraka highlights the darker side of human-animal relations through a sequence comparing two very similar visual images. One scene depicts a crowded subway while another shows new-born chicks on a conveyor belt, presumably being sexed and arranged for meat or egg production.

  • Au Hasard Balthazar. Dir. Robert Bresson. Cinema Ventures. 1966.

    Au Hasard Balthazar (dir. Robert Bresson, 1966) juxtaposes the human treatment of animals with animal camaraderie between different species, emphasising a human/animal divide and how we think of animals as one homogeneous group that we are not apart of, despite biological taxonomy saying otherwise.

  • Two Brothers . Dir. Jean-Jacques Annaud. Universal Studios. 2004.

    ean-Jacques Annaud transports us to the richly beautiful Cambodian jungle in the early 1920s , where two tiger cubs, Sangha and Kumal, are born to their stable and loving family unit. Their playful brotherly bond creates many adventures until violence and greed removes the two from the wild and forces them into the human domain…

  • Anita and Me . Dir. Metin Hüseyin. BBC. 2002.

    Auntie Shaila and her family arrive early in the film, the last of many Indian families who have come to see Meena’s family. The scene recreates the overarching approach of the film, where humour serves to subdue and ridicule racism.

  • My Dog Skip. Dir. Jay Russell. Warner Bros. 2000.

    My Dog Skip is a true story based on the early life of Willie Morris and his pet dog, Skip. The film is narrated by that of an older Willie Morris, reminiscing on those early memories that have become so precious to him. Before Skip is introduced into the Morris’ lives, Willie lacks friends, especially…

  • Big Fish. Dir. Tim Burton. Columbia Pitures. 2003.

    Tim Burton’s, Big Fish [1] follows the life of the charismatic Edward Bloom in his search for adventure far from the confines of his small town in Alabama. Upon leaving his town, his hedonistic search for excitement becomes chaotic and animalistic as he is led primarily by his primitive desires, such as sexuality. This is particularly…

  • Beauty and the Beast . Dir. Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise. Buena Vista Pictures. 1991.

    Beauty and the Beast, Disney’s early 90s offering follows the protagonist Belle, a clever and beautiful woman. Frustrated at her small town life, she hungers for adventure. She rejects the relentless advances of Gaston, the loathsome but handsome villain and instead falls in love with a ‘hideous beast’; a former prince who has been cursed…

  • Kes. Dir. Ken Loach. Woodfall Films. 1969.

    Kes (dir. Ken Loach, 1969) depicts working class Billy using his kestrel training as a means of escaping the grim reality of life in the industrial north, while the juxtaposition of industry with local nature represents the man-made depression of the mining town. In the scene we see Billy’s first glimpse of the kestrels in flight.…

  • IRIS. Dir. Albert Maysles. Magnolia Pictures. 2014.

    There are few people who wouldn’t be intrigued by Iris Apfel. The nonagenarian fashion icon with statement eyewear, accessories hanging like Christmas decorations, and a unique outlook on life. It is no wonder then why legendary documentarian Albert Maylses focuses on her as subject of his penultimate documentary film, IRIS (2014). Plunging us deep into her creative…