A Zed & Two Noughts. Peter Greenaway, 1999.😿😿😿
Edition screened: BFI Blu-ray, released 2010. English language. Runtime approximately 117 minutes.
Summary: Pervasive scenes of dead and decaying animals.
Much of this film is set at a zoo’s medical examination facility and involves research into the nature of evolution and physical decay. There are no depictions of animals being injured or killed, but the film is filled with images of dead animals and many time-elapse sequences showing their bodies decaying.
Like most of Greenaway’s films, A Zed & Two Noughts is an intelligent and artistic accomplishment. However, it simply is not possible to watch it without also sitting through the many (at least thirteen) time-elapse scenes of decaying bodies, complete with maggot infestations. Additionally, these scenes often come with no warning or are intercut with plot scenes. There is no point in trying to skip or fast-forward through these scenes while watching, and there is no point in providing a long useless enumeration of the scenes here.
The BFI release also includes Greenaway’s 1983 documentary The Sea in Their Blood.