Zoology (15)
Directed by Ivan I. Tverdovskiy
Starring Masha Tokareva, Natalya Pavlenkova, Aleksandr Gorchilin, Dmitriy Groshev, Irina Chipizhenko and Anna Astashkina. Russian with subtitles. 91 mins
Zoology is a dull film about a middle aged Russian woman who grows a tail. And, if nothing else, you have to admire the commitment in that. You can make dull films about anything, but I think you have to put in a bit of extra effort, really dampen those blankets, to make a dull film about a middle aged Russian woman who grows a tail.
Natacha (Tokareva) is a spinster who lives with her religious mother and gets picked on by her colleague at the zoo where she works. Russia looks unrelentingly bleak, as Russia on film usual does, a land where superstition is rife and filled by spinsters, harridans and Miwlfs. Briefly the tail looks like it will bring some excitement and romance into her life but Tverdovskiy's film is concerned with illustrating how marginalised women-of-a-certain-age are, so her lot has to stay miserable.
Directed by Ivan I. Tverdovskiy
Starring Masha Tokareva, Natalya Pavlenkova, Aleksandr Gorchilin, Dmitriy Groshev, Irina Chipizhenko and Anna Astashkina. Russian with subtitles. 91 mins
Zoology is a dull film about a middle aged Russian woman who grows a tail. And, if nothing else, you have to admire the commitment in that. You can make dull films about anything, but I think you have to put in a bit of extra effort, really dampen those blankets, to make a dull film about a middle aged Russian woman who grows a tail.
Natacha (Tokareva) is a spinster who lives with her religious mother and gets picked on by her colleague at the zoo where she works. Russia looks unrelentingly bleak, as Russia on film usual does, a land where superstition is rife and filled by spinsters, harridans and Miwlfs. Briefly the tail looks like it will bring some excitement and romance into her life but Tverdovskiy's film is concerned with illustrating how marginalised women-of-a-certain-age are, so her lot has to stay miserable.
