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Andrea Ferreol, Brian Deacon, Eric Deacon, Frances Barber, Joss Ackland ... see more see more... , Gerard Thoolen , Guusje van Tilborgh , David Attenborough , Wolf Kahler , Geoffrey Palmer , Jim Davidson , Agnes Brulet , Ken Hudson Campbell

This twisted black comedy is obsessed in turn with swans, twins, and decay. Alba Bewick (Andréa Ferréol) is involved in a swan-related car accident near the zoo. The accident kills two other women, th... read more read more...e wives of two twin zoologists, Oliver and Oswald Deuce (Brian and Eric Deacon). Alba is lucky enough to escape with one leg. Eventually her doctor also removes the other "because it was dangerous for the spine." Meanwhile, the Deuce brothers, as a result of losing their wives, have become fascinated with the decay of corpses, and they start making rather gruesome time-lapse films to examine the process more thoroughly. Both brothers become involved with Alba. Needless to say, this film may not appeal to everybody. ~ John Voorhees, Rovi

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85% liked it

4,468 ratings

Critics

79% liked it

19 critics

R, 1 hr. 55 min.

Directed by: Peter Greenaway

Release Date: May 25, 1990

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DVD Release Date: November 23, 1999

Stats: 244 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (244)

  • fb1142797643
    February 17, 2010
    fb1142797643
    A delightfully perverse film. I'm sure that I will never see a better movie fixated on amputation and rotting carrion.

    As with most Peter Greenaway films, the stylized cinematography, lighting and sets are a marvel. Greenaway is more like a Renaissance painter than a director, a... read morend his longtime collaborator Michael Nyman delivers another stirring, processional score which perfectly accents all the slow tracking shots.

    Real-life twins play two zoologists whose wives are killed in a traffic accident after an escaped swan flies into their car and causes the driver, one Alba Bewick, to lose control. Alba survives, but her leg is amputated. She seems to *enjoy* this new handicap and cheerfully reclines in bed, flaunting her lingerie-clad body to multiple visitors. Meanwhile, the widowed twins become obsessed with post-mortem decay, and begin time-lapse photographing a variety of dead subjects. Gradually, they advance to more and more complex organisms. A few other side plots sneak into the story, including Alba's dalliance with another amputee who's missing *both* legs.

    Greenaway's usual feast of sex and full frontal nudity is on ample display, and every female character seems to be a whore at heart. If this offends you, you've probably wandered into the wrong film by mistake.

    If it's not obvious, the title elaborates the spelling of "Z-O-O." I wonder if David Cronenberg saw this movie, prior to writing "Dead Ringers"?
  • gator681
    September 5, 2008
    gator681
    [font=Century Gothic]Written and directed by Peter Greenaway, "A Zed and Two Noughts" is about two zoologist brothers, Oswald(Brian Deacon) and Oliver(Eric Deacon) Deuce, who both lose their wives in a tragic freak auto accident.(A swan was somehow involved.) In that same moment,... read more they gain a friend in Alba Bewick(Andrea Ferreol, who seems to be game for anything) who survived the same accident but had to have one of her legs amputated.[/font]

    [font=Century Gothic]Since "A Zed and Two Noughts" is also about zoology, then how should the films of Peter Greenaway be classified? Well, generally they(and I have not seen either "Prospero's Books" or "Belly of an Architect") are about either art or obsession combined with sex. Like with "Drowning by Numbers," this one is also on the obsession side of the ledger, as the brothers become obsessed with death and decay, as they film the decomposition of animals using stop-motion photography. But in this way, the movie is also about immortality as the brothers' films are probably meant for somebody to watch them in the future. Along the same lines, Alba's breeding is a way for a part of her to survive after she dies and a prostitute, Venus de Milo(Frances Barber), has the same thought but goes the publishing route.[/font]

    [font=Century Gothic]So you can see, there is some intelligent thought going on but that does not always equate to excellence in filmmaking. Whereas he is incapable of making an uninteresting movie, only two of Greenaway's are anything special - "Drowning by Numbers" and "The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover"(Jane Campion has a similar track record.) and "A Zed and Two Noughts" is another perplexing near miss. The problem here is that none of the emotions are recognizably human. And a reliance on long shots perhaps meant to simulate watching animals in a zoo just serves to alienate the viewer.[/font]
  • shitfaced8
    October 11, 2011
    shitfaced8
    My first foray into the work of Peter Greenaway, a filmmaker I have heard much about, and have wanted to get into for awhile, but just never got around to it until now. I was definently not disappointed with my first exposure to him. This film definently has high replay value, as... read more I imagine new layers will show themselves upon repeated viewings. I'll start by saying that visually this movie is flawless. A feast for the eyes if there ever was one. The sets are meticulous. The film is overflowing with symbolism and metaphor. Even the costumes look like they were carefully selected to contribute to the overall feeling of the film. This isn't a case of style over substance either though. This film is dense in it's ideas and how it chooses to get those idea's across. There are a lot of recurring themes here (Grief, Decay, Loss, Rarities etc). So dense that I'm not going to try and explain what I think it all is supposed to mean, especially after first watch. I definently will be revisiting this movie again and again though, and I look forward to seeing more of Greenaway's work in the future. A must see if you enjoy Art House, Dark comedy, the bizarre and so on.
  • toejambaseball24
    February 21, 2009
    toejambaseball24
    Too many weird naked men...I don't know about my teacher's taste in movies anymore.
  • littlecharmer1959
    October 7, 2008
    littlecharmer1959
    A totally bizarre film filled with Greenaway's unique touches.
    A Zed & Two Noughts (Zoo) focuses on Oliver and Oswald Deuce, twins brothers and zoologists. When both of their wives die in a car crash they become obsessed with death and decay ( featuring some brilliant time-laps... read moree photography sequences.) They also both enter into a relationship with the driver of their wives car crash, the now one-legged Alba Bewick. As well as this there is a whole wealth a strange character's including the Zoo's very own prostitute named Venus De Milo and a crazy surgeon Van Meegerin with a strange fascination with amputations.
    Not necessarily an easy film to watch, but as always with Greenaway definitely worth watching if only to see and hear the amazing visual and audio treats.
  • RicC
    December 9, 2010
    RicC
    Peter Greenaway's flavorful, macabre, resonant style is amazingly pronounced in A Zed and Two Noughts, a film whose uncanny and eccentric wit completely mesmerizes. The soundtrack and score continually charge scenes with a grand ecstatic feeling of grandiose and they're complemen... read moreted by picture perfect photography that I imagine would look and sound stunning at the big screen. The characters, irregular, raunchy, and absorbing, are played by an excellent cast, possibly even better than The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover's. The zoology as a means to analyze death is endlessly fascinating, as a bio geek, and the animals filmed, dead and alive, give the film a colorful authenticity. I feel as though the film presented Earth and its inhabitants and the inhabitants' abilities. The grand scopes Greenaway captures visually and in concept give his films that microcosmic feel, where a world is captured within a film. Well written, acted, directed; poetic, operatic, and intriguing.
  • tippyco
    March 21, 2008
    tippyco
    I've seen some crazy freakin movies but I think this one tops them all. I'm not even quite sure if I liked the movie, but I know everyone should watch it. This movie will leave you thinking wtf did I just watch. I can't really put in words what the movie is about, it involves two... read more zoologists, death, a swan and a amputee.
  • eskaton666
    December 27, 2007
    eskaton666
    An earlier effort from the pretentious and wonderful Peter Greenaway. A good companion piece to Cronenberg's 'Dead Ringers.'

View All A Zed and Two Noughts Reviews

Critic Reviews

Nathan Lee
July 5, 2007
Nathan Lee, Village Voice

An enjoyably decadent, ridiculously convoluted thingamajig. Full Review

Amber Wilkinson
September 8, 2010
Amber Wilkinson, Eye for Film

Despite overkill in the ideas department, which many will find too pretentious for comfort or coherence, visually, Zed is a masterpiece. Full Review

Jeffrey M. Anderson
February 29, 2008
Jeffrey M. Anderson, Combustible Celluloid

liked this better the second time around, but it's still not one of my favorite Greenaways. Full Review

Jeremiah Kipp
January 22, 2008
Jeremiah Kipp, Slant Magazine

None of Greenaway's films take place in anything resembling naturalism or realism, and they don't feel modern. They're like archaic storybook adaptations of Jacobean plays illustrated by Vermeer. Full Review

Dennis Schwartz
November 8, 2007
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews

Enjoyable as a work of perversion. Full Review

Cole Smithey
March 13, 2006
Cole Smithey, ColeSmithey.com

Greenaway when he was still hungry.

Shane Burridge
January 25, 2006
Shane Burridge, rec.arts.movies.reviews

Another exercise in cataloguing, another elaborate death ritual, and another story inhabited with fixation

Douglas Pratt
November 6, 2004
Douglas Pratt, DVDLaser

As fascinating and exciting as the images are, however, the drama is ridiculous as all get out.

Greg Muskewitz
February 21, 2004
Greg Muskewitz, eFilmCritic.com

It's frustratingly interesting for the director's self-indulgences ... Full Review

Anton Bitel
February 13, 2004
Anton Bitel, Movie Gazette

Greenaway's eccentric exploration of where all life's absurd varieties must begin and end is, like a road accident, always fascinating, if not exactly pleasurable, to watch. Full Review

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