It's no secret that film festivals are typically loaded with movies that feature protagonists who buck their humdrum daily slogs and finally experience life on their own terms. Some film makers pull it off with endearing stories of characters who turn their lives around following a traumatic experience, while other such stories of letting inhibitions go end up as more of a cautionary tale. In Ivan Tverdovskiy's ZOOLOGY, the writer/director uses an actual physical metamorphosis as the stepping off point for an emotional one in the form of the main character's newly acquired appendage. In plain English, she grows a tail.
The film begins as Natasha, a depressed middle aged spinster living at home with her mother, seeks medical treatment for her peculiar condition. Though various professionals seem to not be very concerned with Natasha's strange extremity, the local rumor mill has gone wild with stories of a she-devil-with-a-tail terrorizing the neighborhood. When Natasha eventually sees a physician for X-rays, the anticlimactic reveal of her new hindpart only adds to the overall nonchalance of the phenomenon. When an additional X-ray is ordered, Natasha initiates a fling with her hunky radiologist. Soon, our lead goes through a makeover inside and out. No longer the whipping girl at work whose only solace is with the caged animals at zoo where she is employed, Natasha enjoys some well deserved revelry and distance from her former daily grind. Though nobody except her doctors know of her caudal affliction, local paranoia has reached her elderly mother which causes Natasha to question the virtue of her figurative and literal transformation.
At it's core, ZOOLOGY is a simple story of a woman at a crossroads in her life. It just so happens that in this version a physical manifestation of her plight glaringly illustrates the self examination she is undergoing. In fact, the film could probably play just as well without the addition of the appendage, but then it would be just another run of the mill mid life crisis story. Instead, the tail adds a palpable sense of mystery, horror, and yes even eroticism to the picture. The tail itself is quite unnerving in appearance- hairless, phallic, and prone to involuntary movement. Though its appearances are very understated and infrequent, director Ivan Tverdovskiy uses the anomaly to great effect, creating an ominous feeling that permeates every scene.
Natalya Pavlenkova's realistic portrayal of the downtrodden Natasha definitely keeps the film from feeling silly. A sense of modesty in her performance helps balance the absurdity of the tail as well as the audaciousness of her newly found confidence. She is able to let go without going completely bat shit crazy or falling victim to other mid life crisis cliches.
All in all, ZOOLOGY is a fun little character study with a twist. I'm not sure about an American release since it is of Russian/German/French origin, but I would definitely recommend keeping an eye out for it if you enjoy well-executed yet quirky dramas.
Rebecca Elliott
Aka Annette Kellerman
