Last night I saw the documentary, The Whale, by Suzanne Chisolm and Michael Parfit.
In the spring of 2008, I screened a documentary at the Seattle International Film Festival that left me weeping and smiling all the same. It was called Saving Luna, and it captured the story of an orca from Washington's L-pod that became separated from his family and built a life in Canada, making friends with humans instead of returning home.
This film is a re-purposed version of that film, and delivers just as powerful a punch—reminding us to embrace nature and respect all of the treasures that our earth delivers.
My opinion hasn't changed since I wrote this review for Cinebanter, three years ago.
I encourage those of you in Seattle to get to The Whale before it leaves SIFF Cinema at the end of the week (and yes, I encourage you to take the kids). Those of you in other cities and countries should lobby for this beautiful film to come to your area. You won't be disappointed.
To view the trailer, click here.
Showing posts with label Washington. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Washington. Show all posts
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Monday, May 14, 2007
Zoo
Tonight I saw Zoo, a disturbing docudrama about a community of people who have sexual relationships with horses and other farm animals.
What possessed me to sit through this?
Well—the fact that the story it's based on made major headlines in my state, and that horrible curiosity I'm plagued with because I'm human. Thankfully, I had a friend who was just as curious as me, so we went to the film together (as this was not a flick I wanted to show up for alone).
Anyway, the movie details the events of the summer of 2005 as told by some of the members of the 'zoo' community who were present and the horse 'rescuer' who took possession of the animal after the incident.
What happened was, a group of men would meet at an Enumclaw, Washington ranch (after making initial contact through a zoo chat room), have drinks, watch movies and take the party outside. I don't need to be more graphic than that.
And what transpired one July night is what the entire film focuses on—one man—a divorced, father of one and engineer for Boeing, bled to death after intercourse with one of the horses.
Horrific, eh?
Yes. And what's more horrific is that by all accounts (save for the zoo habit), this guy was a productive, taxpaying member of society who boasted a promising career, loved his kid and had a great friendship with his ex-wife.
So how did he get there?
That's the problem with this movie. We have no idea.
Although the interviews are honest and meditative, they don't really offer any insight into why these individuals don't seek partnership with members of their own species. If I went into the theater wanting to learn anything tonight, it's how the hell some people find themselves so mentally messed up that they prefer the stimulation of an animal to a human.
But nothing about the film answered that question—and it's not exactly something you want to have in your browsing history should you decide to investigate for yourself.
If anything good came of the incident, it's that beastiality is now illegal in Washington state (it wasn't at the gentleman's time of death) and perhaps the awareness the movie will bring will make ranch owners check up on their livestock more often.
And I thought I'd seen it all...
What possessed me to sit through this?
Well—the fact that the story it's based on made major headlines in my state, and that horrible curiosity I'm plagued with because I'm human. Thankfully, I had a friend who was just as curious as me, so we went to the film together (as this was not a flick I wanted to show up for alone).
Anyway, the movie details the events of the summer of 2005 as told by some of the members of the 'zoo' community who were present and the horse 'rescuer' who took possession of the animal after the incident.
What happened was, a group of men would meet at an Enumclaw, Washington ranch (after making initial contact through a zoo chat room), have drinks, watch movies and take the party outside. I don't need to be more graphic than that.
And what transpired one July night is what the entire film focuses on—one man—a divorced, father of one and engineer for Boeing, bled to death after intercourse with one of the horses.
Horrific, eh?
Yes. And what's more horrific is that by all accounts (save for the zoo habit), this guy was a productive, taxpaying member of society who boasted a promising career, loved his kid and had a great friendship with his ex-wife.
So how did he get there?
That's the problem with this movie. We have no idea.
Although the interviews are honest and meditative, they don't really offer any insight into why these individuals don't seek partnership with members of their own species. If I went into the theater wanting to learn anything tonight, it's how the hell some people find themselves so mentally messed up that they prefer the stimulation of an animal to a human.
But nothing about the film answered that question—and it's not exactly something you want to have in your browsing history should you decide to investigate for yourself.
If anything good came of the incident, it's that beastiality is now illegal in Washington state (it wasn't at the gentleman's time of death) and perhaps the awareness the movie will bring will make ranch owners check up on their livestock more often.
And I thought I'd seen it all...
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