Celluloid Club: Zoo (2007) [NSFW]
Warning: this edition of Celluloid Club is definitely NSFW. Or at least I hope it's NSFW, otherwise I am worried about where you work.While perusing articles on Vice the other day I came across one that reminded me that this month marks the 10th anniversary of "the Enumclaw horse sex case". I don't know how much press this case received on a national level, but I live in Washington state (not far from Enumclaw in fact), and suffice it to say that just about every Washingtonian I know is well aware of this case. In fact, if I'm not mistaken, it was the most read story in the Seattle Times that year.
For those who are (blissfully?) unaware of the case, the facts are these: on July 2, 2005, a local man named Kenneth Pinyan died due to "to acute peritonitis [that resulted from the] perforation of the sigmoid colon during anal intercourse with a horse." Pinyan, a Boeing engineer, was a member of a small group of men who regularly engaged in (and filmed) bestiality at a horse farm out in Enumclaw. People absolutely lost their minds when this happened, and not without good reason. It ignited a debate about an animal's capacity to give consent, with most people (myself included) coming to the conclusion that animals are incapable of giving consent, making bestiality at a minimum morally wrong, if not a criminal act.
Although bestiality was not a crime at the time of Pinyan's death, the likely reason is not that the people of the great state of Washington condoned such an act, but rather could not bring themselves to even consider such a thing. I think that Charles Mudede said it best when he wrote about the case for The Stranger: The reason for the law's absence—the one I believe is much more likely—is that no one wanted to contemplate horse fucking, much less talk about it. The formation of any law requires a lot of thought and even more talking. To pass a measure against bestiality means you have to picture it, write about it, and describe it in great detail.
Following Pinyan's death, legislation was quickly passed that made bestiality a Class C felony in Washington, meaning it is punishable by a maximum of five years in prison or a $10,000 fine, or both. Washington was only the 37th state to prohibit bestiality, and as of this writing there are still quite a few states that have nothing on the books in regards to bestiality.
Why am I talking about this dreadful subject, you ask? After stumbling upon that Vice article, I was reminded of the documentary about the case, Zoo. I remember watching it shortly after it came out, either in late 2007 or 2008. My memory of that viewing is incredibly vivid; at the time I lived with two roommates in a four bedroom house with significant insulation and mold problems. Heating the house was practically useless, the electric bill was outrageously high and the house was never warm, so after a while we just turned the heat on in the spare bedroom and huddled in there together to watch movies on the futon mattress on the floor. I watched Zoo in there one day with a good friend who was also a fan of documentaries and equally intrigued by the case, and I think what is so memorable about that day is how absolutely fucking awkward and confusing the whole experience was. The movie was definitely not what either of us expected, and I don't know that either of us knew what to think. Even now, seven or eight years after watching it for the first time, I can't say whether or not I even liked the movie the first time through, but there's no doubt that it left an impression on me.
I thought this movie warranted a second viewing, and I was absolutely right about that. I still don't know if I can say that it's a good movie, or at least not a good documentary, because I think that most documentary fans will find this movie to be too ambiguous for their taste. Much like Soaked in Bleach, this movie relies heavily on reenactment. In fact, it's almost nothing but reenactments, the notable exception being a bizarre interview with one of the reenactment actors (the man who played Cop #1). But while the reenactments in Soaked in Bleach started to feel hokey after a while, that's never the case with Zoo, which maintains a dreamlike quality from start to finish. The film is focused not just on Pinyan's death, but rather the community and culture of the zoos he was involved with at the time. In all honesty, shifting the focus from the facts of the Kenneth Pinyan case to the zoo community makes for a more intersting and compelling film. It was not the true crime story I had hoped for when I first rented it seven or eight years ago, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing.
I thought this movie warranted a second viewing, and I was absolutely right about that. I still don't know if I can say that it's a good movie, or at least not a good documentary, because I think that most documentary fans will find this movie to be too ambiguous for their taste. Much like Soaked in Bleach, this movie relies heavily on reenactment. In fact, it's almost nothing but reenactments, the notable exception being a bizarre interview with one of the reenactment actors (the man who played Cop #1). But while the reenactments in Soaked in Bleach started to feel hokey after a while, that's never the case with Zoo, which maintains a dreamlike quality from start to finish. The film is focused not just on Pinyan's death, but rather the community and culture of the zoos he was involved with at the time. In all honesty, shifting the focus from the facts of the Kenneth Pinyan case to the zoo community makes for a more intersting and compelling film. It was not the true crime story I had hoped for when I first rented it seven or eight years ago, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing.
Verdict: If nothing else, this movie demonstrates that the most interesting thing about Kenneth Pinyan is not his death, but rather his life. This film's biggest shortcoming (if you can call it that) is that I walked away with more questions than answers. This was a startlingly compassionate and complex movie about a grotesque subject, and as a result watching it was a challenging experience, in the best way possible. It is also worth mentioning that this is without a doubt one of the most beautifully executed movies I've ever seen. This is hard to explain to someone who is not a local, but this movie looks and feels like Washington in a way that few movies ever do. There are stunning shots of Mt. Ranier looming ominously in the background of the farm while the men gather around the television at night, as well as subtler shots that showcase what it's like to be outside in Washington on a cool July night. As a Washington native I am undoubtedly biased in this regard, but even if I had watched this film without any sound or subtitles, I would have been moved by the imagery alone. 3.5 out of 5 stars.
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