 |  | A Beautiful REGION 1 Edition |  |
Amazon's listing is totally incorrect! This is the AMERICAN REGION 1 edition!!!
This is Peter Greenaway's wonderfully twisted black comedy that's obsessed with swans, death, decay and, of all things, twins. It's great pretzel logic fun on an incredible DVD to boot.
February 12, 2008| | | Gorgeously filmed and elaborately constructed conceptual tour-de-force | |
I am very excited that Zeitgeist is putting out this new dvd transfer of this exceptional film. This is Peter Greenaway at his finest, his obsession with ordering lives and things and with the discovery of symmetries between the obsessions that drive both science and sexuality is perfectly meshed by the story of two twin zoologists who grieve the passing of their wives in a bizarre car accident by simultaneously embarking upon a quixotic research project into the nature of decomposition and an affair with the amputee who had been driving the car. Thrown into the mix are a storytelling prostitute and aspiring writer named Venus de Milo, a murderer of black and white animals, a man who lost his legs for loving horses a little too much, a surgeon who is overly fond of amputation and obsessed by Vermeer. The best cinematic comparison is probably Alain Resnais' My American Uncle -- both films raise questions about the pretense that we are above the animals, that we are rational creatures and are not driven by instinct and drive. This film argues, I think, that we are unique and interesting animals and at our most unique and distinctive when we show our obsession with and drive to establish our distinction from the other animals. The music throughout is perfect and matches the style and tone of the film superbly; the story, while utterly unique is nevertheless comprehensible and never less than fascinating. It is the kind of film that rewards repeated viewings, and is a must-see film for those who delight in the possibilities of cinema, and are willing to suspend their expectations and be caught up by the delightful imagination and insight of one of the most distinctive and compelling filmmakers.
January 31, 2008 | | Elegant Tale of Decomposing | |
I knew how strange and unusual Greenaway could be but Zed, I believe could take the cake :). I am not sure what it is all about but I still enjoy the triumvirate Greenaway - Sasha Verny- Michael Nyman. Some ideas and images Greenaway will use in the later "8 1/2 women" and "The Cook, The Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover" - especially, the soundtrack. "Dead Ringers" and "Mon oncle d'Amérique" (two beautiful weirdnesses themselves) also come to mind while watching Greenaway's elegant tale of decomposing which is also his meditations about life, death and grief. As in earlier "The Draughtsman's Contract" (1982), Greenaway explores the relationship between the close relatives - the twin brothers are in the center of "A Zed & two Noughts". The movie is also a modern retelling of an ancient myth about Leda and Zeus who took the form of a swan and slept with Leda on the same night as her husband, King Tyndareus. Leda bore Helen and Polydeuces, children of Zeus while at the same time bearing Castor and Clytemnestra, children of her husband Tyndareus, the King of Sparta.
Greenaway considers that 90% of his films one way or another refers to paintings. "A Zed & two Noughts" refers openly and with great admiration to the paintings of Johannes Vermeer van Delft.
"A Zed & two Noughts" is not easy film to watch, its characters are not sympathetic, it lacks warmth and sentimentality but as always in Greenaway's films, it is a feast for eyes, ears, and for brain.
April 12, 2007 | | this movie was a traffic accident, your disgusted but | |
you have to look at the blood and carnage. I think this would have been a little clearer if it was made in America. But, then it would have been a different movie. Quite frankly I don't think Hillary Duff could have played the Swan lady with any depth. Twins, once conjoined, Zookeepers are obsessed with decaying flesh. They have hours of footage on animals from their zoo decaying in stages. Very European volumptousness, frontal nudity (the twins) yup, hot dogs and all. Which I do enjoy, and wouldn't see in an American version, unless Harvey Keitell was in it. Their wives die in a car crash with a friend, who survives, but loses her leg. Twins take turns with her and eventually she gets preggy, but dosen't know which one is the father but it dosen't matter anyway because they are bothers and twins. Meanwhile she has her other leg removed voluntarly, I don't know why. She gives birth, to what else? Twins. Then she dies and gives custody to a man with no legs but more of a brain than the twins have. Also the man who owns the Zoo is a sadist and mutilates the animals in the zoo. This is not for the squeamish, the music was too loud, but, if you can look past the weirdness, it's a story by Greenaway, who is crystal clear compared to a David Lynch mess. So get high and give this one a try. Enjoy!
April 3, 2007 EVERYTHING in this film is deliberate and meaningful, in contrast to life, or the view thereof it offers, anyway. everything to be shown or heard in this film can be interpreted in any number of ways and all of them are intriguing. the characters are way out there and yet the seem to be actualizations of things we've all contemplated, only abstracted and made ridiculously absurd. the composition and lighting all seems bizarre and unworldly, yet there's no reason we couldn't see any of these scenes exactly in the real world. the film's one weakness, if it can be called one, is that it is rather inaccessible. after multiple viewings, the whole picture eventually comes together and i have appreciated it more every time. if you're looking to just kick back for a bit and shut your brain down, though, this film will be an awful drudgery and seem rather pointless. maybe that's what greenaway is getting at, though.
February 2, 2007More reviews at Amazon.com ...
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