Written and directed by Peter Greenaway, "A Zed and Two Noughts" is about two zoologist brothers, Oswald(Brian Deacon) and Oliver(Eric Deacon) Deuce, who both lose their wives in a tragic freak auto accident.(A swan was somehow involved.) In that same moment, they gain a friend in Alba Bewick(Andrea Ferreol, who seems
to be game for anything) who survived the same accident but had to have one of her legs amputated.Since "A Zed and Two Noughts" is also about zoology, then how should the films of Peter Greenaway be classified? Well, generally they(and I have not seen either "Prospero's Books" or "Belly of an Architect") are about either art or obsession combined with sex. Like with "Drowning by Numbers," this one is also on the obsession side of the ledger, as the brothers become obsessed with death and decay, as they film the decomposition of animals using stop-motion photography. But in this way, the movie is also about immortality as the brothers' films are probably meant for somebody to watch them in the future. Along the same lines, Alba's breeding is a way for a part of her to survive after she dies and a prostitute, Venus de Milo(Frances Barber), has the same thought but goes the publishing route.So you can see, there is some intelligent thought going on but that does not always equate to excellence in filmmaking. Whereas he is incapable of making an uninteresting movie, only two of Greenaway's are anything special - "Drowning by Numbers" and "The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover"(Jane Campion has a similar track record.) and "A Zed and Two Noughts" is another perplexing near miss. The problem here is that none of the emotions are recognizably human. And a reliance on long shots perhaps meant to simulate watching animals in a zoo just serves to alienate the viewer.
September 5, 2008
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