ZooScope

Tag: HAR: Language/Communication

  • A Dog’s Purpose. Dir. Lasse Hallström. Universal Pictures. 2017.

    Lasse Hallström’s film A Dog’s Purpose presents the relationship between a dog and its first owner, Ethan Montgomery (Dennis Quaid as Ethan’s adult version). The intriguing question “what is the real purpose of a dog” becomes for Bailey (Josh Gad) the triggering of a number of adventures which results in the last sequence where the…

  • White God. Dir. Kornél Mundruczó. InterCom Zrt. 2014.

    White God (dir. Kornél Mundruczó, 2014) depicts the story of Hagen [Bodie and Luke], a mixed-breed dog, and his relationship with Lili [Zsófia Psotta], a young girl who is sent to live with her emotionally distant father [Sándor Zsótér].  Unwilling to pay the newly implemented ‘mongrel fee’ imposed by the Hungarian government in a desperate attempt…

  • Carnage. Dir. Simon Amstell. BBC. 2017.

    What would the world be like if everybody was vegan? According to Simon Amstell’s vision of the future in Carnage, it’s a peaceful utopia in which the young vegans of tomorrow frolic in fields and enjoy food much more, knowing that nothing was taken from an animal, albeit one in which the older generations of ex-meat-eaters…

  • The Cat Returns. Dir. Hiroyuki Morita. Toho. 2002.

    The Cat Returns (2002) is a Japanese fantasy film animated by Studio Ghibli, which follows dissatisfied schoolgirl Haru Yoshioka, who after saving a cat from a road collision, discovers she has the ability to talk to cats. Upon saving the feline it is revealed that this individual is none other than Prince Lune, Heir to the…

  • They Shall Not Grow Old. Dir. Peter Jackson. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.. 2018.

    Not often is a film’s purpose so clearly stated in its title, yet Peter Jackson’s They Shall Not Grow Old1(TSNGO) is a documentary with meticulous dedication to preserving the stories of those who fought in World War One. Framed by black and white footage of pre-war conscription and the return home from combat, the documentary’s centre is…

  • The Wizard of Oz. Dir. Victor Fleming, King Vidor, George Cukor, Richard Thorpe, Norman Taurog. MGM. 1939.

    The Wizard of Oz is about a small-town girl in the big city–the Emerald City. Dorothy lives on a farm in Kansas with her dog Toto. When she is knocked unconscious during a hurricane, she wakes up to find herself in the magical world of Oz, filled with a myriad of unusual creatures. She must travel…

  • Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Dir. David Yates. Warner Bros. Pictures. 2016.

    Courage, nerve, chivalry, the makings of a true her- oh? This story is about a Hufflepuff? Newt Scamander (played by Eddie Redmayne) is not from Gryffindor, he bears no lightning scar, and he is well beyond the teenage wizard angst of the Harry Potter series. Instead of a Chosen One, our hero is a… Magizoologist. We meet…

  • Toy Story. Dir. John Lasseter. Pixar. 1995.

    ‘You’ve got a friend in me’ is the catchphrase of Pixar’s first computer-generated feature-length film, Toy Story (1995), and this perfectly captures the relationships within the film; including those between the group of toys the plot centres around. The film follows the lives of these toys, in which the mix of human and animal characters come to…

  • Arrival. Dir. Denis Villeneuve. Paramount Pictures. 2016.

    When I think of science fiction films, I immediately think of two things: aliens and explosions. Arrival plays with these expectations of the genre, asking the viewer to look at aliens in a way they’re not used to. Taking Villeneuve’s vision of the alien to be a non-human creature, it is appropriate to categorise the aliens in Arrival as…

  • Grizzly Man. Dir. Werner Herzog. Lions Gate Films. 2005.

    A fascinating aspect about Werner Herzog’s exploration of the life of Timothy Treadwell and his relationships with the wild grizzly bears of Alaska is his investigation of the way Treadwell interpreted the animal world, and the extent to which this reveals aspects to his character. A scene which exemplifies this interpretation is when we’re shown…