This could be a tolerable playing-in-the-background film if it was muted. There's really not enough to make every scene interesting. The sound is minimal, but you can hear lots of door slamming and fluorescent lights buzzing. Perhaps the film maker wanted that impersonal, raw feel, but it doesn't make a film enjoyable for adult leisure time. You can hear the animals but it's not a 'nature' film. I would rather watch a narrated, colorful documentary either about animals and migration, or even their extinction. This features scenes of caged animals so you don't learn anything about them or their natural habitats. Some scenes seem to last for ten minutes with a fish bowl view of the animals and sometimes people, but nothing is happening. I can imagine for a film festival this film was OK because people could cleanse their palate between captivating films. If I was being paid as a film critic I might have been able to watch the complete film. As it was, I lasted about thirty minutes before I couldn't take anymore.
Review of Bestiaire
