ZOO~ a documentary.

I like to think myself open, tolerant sophisticated. I like to think I can look into the dark of the human heart and not flinch too much nor judge. I am challenged past endurance by this element of society, yet I know they are humans, that people love them. This documentary is shot like a movie with actors(two real participants of this community are in the film) using recorded interviews with the actual individuals involved. The human bond with animals is such a special one, and I like, the films makers ,feel it is wrong to cross the line. Yet these men are not monsters, while I see black and white~ I can almost sense gray.

The horse rescuer ,Jenny Edwards(Home for Horses) says it best at films end;” I am trying to understand. I can get close but it is elusive”The director describe the film as: “The complete antithesis of what you expect … To begin with, ‘Zoo’ is neither graphic nor exploitive. Most of it takes the form of recreations, but from the point of view of the men ‘who met for years without disturbance in the shadows of Mt. Rainier,’ and as Devor puts it.” “I aestheticized the sleaze right out of it.”

“This was a guy(the deceased) who was a conservative man at one point, and those ideas started breaking down for him. I think that 9/11 triggered a lot of it. But he was [also] in the center of one of the most secretive military complexes. Meanwhile, he listened to a lot of left-wing radio, he questioned everything our government was involved in, and he was ethically conflicted about his job and the money he was making. That’s the core fascination for me.” - Devor, describing his interest in the film’s subject. From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoo_(movie)

It remains a documentary for which I have no words so I will use other reviewers words.

“Zoo is a documentary doomed to remain forever biased and incomplete until somebody figures out how to interview a horse.”

Ray Greene ,BOXOFFICE MAGAZINE

“Director Robinson Devor makes an only mildly disgusting film about a wholly revolting subject.”

Phil Villarreal ,Arizona Daily Star

“It’s never explicit or sensational or tittering. And in that it’s something of a golden example; political documentaries should be this careful and restrained.”

Shawn Levy ,Oregonian

“Zoo, despite its elegance, teeters on a tightrope; by relying primarily on words from men who seem reluctant to talk much about what happened, it ends up having little to say.”

Moria MacDonald, Seattle Times

“It’s not a cheery film to watch, but there’s an unexpected beauty and distance to Zoo that makes it easier to comprehend, if not understand, how this culture considers itself.”

Brian Orndorf, OHMYNEWS.COM

“It is a relaxing film to watch, austere and comforting in such a way that Zoo’s aural components will become unexpectedly, uncommonly troubling.”

Rumsey Taylor, NOT COMING TO A THEATER NEAR YOU

I can not recommend this documentary, yet I can not say do not see it. It is unsettling in a profound way, not for most viewers.