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This week's picture shows are difficult to
preface with a witty title or clever anecdote. One
film is about a young suicide bomber on a mis
sion, and the other, a documentary about a man
who died after having sex with a horse. Yeah, try
and make something with that.
ZOO (R) 2007. In 2005, a man was dropped off
at a Seattle hospital, suffering from unusual
and severe internal injuries. Authorities later
discovered that he was part of an underground
group of zoophiles and had incurred the inju
ries after having penetrative sexual intercourse
with a stallion. The story received an enormous
amount of attention and suddenly a subject too
taboo for front-page headlines was all over the
national press. The deceased man was 45-year-
old Kenneth Pinyan, a seemingly ordinary father
of two and engineer at the aerospace company
Boeing. Pinyan used the Internet to connect
with other men who shared his desires and found
a ranch in Enumclaw on the outskirts of Seattle
where he could indulge his bestiality.
Writer Charles Mudede, an associate editor of
Seattle weekly The Stranger, collaborated with
director Robinson Devor to produce a film about
Pinyan's lifestyle and death, and together the
two created quasi-documentary Zoo. Originally
titled In the Forest There is Every Kind of Bird,
Zoo is short for zoophilia, the technical term for
a strong fondness or sexual attraction to animals.
The oblique film attempts to tastefully recon
struct the events that led to Pinyan's (referred
to in the film as "Mr. Hands") infamous death,
and, to Devoris credit, Zoo isn't visually graphic
Several "what the hell" moments also distract
from Devoris work. At one point, the documentary
suddenly breaks from Enumclaw to a white back
drop, and two of the film's actors discuss why
they decided to take on such controversial roles.
Then back to the horse orgy. Another "what the
hell" moment involves a random interview in a
which a woman recalls a dwarf pony sucking on
the penis of one of the ranch's stallions.
In the end, the confusing, dull documentary
fails to shed any light on this bizarre subculture.
And as open-minded a culture as America is, and
should remain, it's hard to feel sympathetic for
someone who would risk his life and his family's
well-being just to get it on with a horse. There's
really no way to redefine that kind of deviancy.
Grade: D
DAY NIGHT DAY NIGHT (NR) 2006. Julia Loktev
(Moment of Impact) flexes her directorial prow
ess and social intelligence with this, her second
film and major indie success. Day Night Day Night
follows an anonymous 19-year-old girl (Luisa
Williams) as she prepares for a
suicide bombing mission in Times
Square. Her name is never stated,
nor her state or country of origin.
Fair-skinned, with brown hair and
brown eyes, she could be pinned
to myriad ethnicities. Her accent is
neutral, and her motivation for the
mission remains a great secret.
The quiet, slow film obsesses
over the young girl's movements,
honing in on her face, capturing
each slight expression and gesture.
Dialogue is sparse, and a great
deal of the audio is her breathing
heavily, establishing an intimacy
with the mysterious young woman.
Loktev reveals two sides of
the girl—the radical, ready to give the ultimate
sacrifice for some unknown cause, and the young
woman, nervous about taking her own life in one
of America's busiest intersections. But instead
of delving into how the young bomber arrived
at such a drastic decision, the film meticulously
focuses on the banal preparations that precede
the mission: washing her clothes, scrubbing her
skin, getting food to eat.
What is so interesting and refreshing about
Day Night Day Night is that it strips suicide
bombing of all political, social and ethnic asso-
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Day Night Day Night
or salacious (the idea of bestiality is graphic
enough without the help of visual extras). Devor
confuses modesty with indirectness, however,
and the film is little more than a confusing
sequence of stilted reenactments and disjointed
interviews. Shadowy scene by shadowy scene,
the documentary caves in on itself, amounting to
little more than a throbbing score and nebulous
cinematography.
ciations. By giving the woman a young, neutral
and innocent face, Loktev separates the crime
from American stereotypes, specifically those
associated with Islamic culture. She transforms a
crime sensationalized in contemporary American
media into a haunting poem about the power of
conviction. Grade: B-
Robin Geddie
c h a p e 1
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