Night Zoo (1987) User Reviews

Definitely outside of the realm of normal

[K-Slicer · 8/10 · 26 May 2003]

I have read the posted comments on the website and I found they are all from Canada. It goes to show that many interesting films are never outside the country of their origin. I came across "Un zoo la nuit" in the suspense section of a local video store and it appeared to haven't been rented in some time. The cover was beyond deceptive because I saw a woman on it who was screaming and the title "NIGHT ZOO" in bold red caps. I usually take a chance on watching many different movies and this is one I do recommend on some level and here are my reasons (spoilers herein).

(1) Gilles Maheu and Roger Lebel portrayed the father and son in probably the most realistic father-and-son relationship that I have ever played out on screen. It was shockingly deep considering the negative events surrounding it. (2) Marcel's (played by Gilles Maheu) interaction's with his ex-girlfriend Julie were plotted and written correctly. I think if that angle had been explored more, it would have stolen very much from the film. (3) When it comes to being realistic, I think this film shatters the good guy-bad guy stereotypes and how they interact. Marcel is threatened by a rather unsavory pair of cops and one of them cuts him in the face with a switchblade and beats Marcel with a garbage can when Marcel tries to retaliate. No special effects or explosives needed there. (4) I liked the mixture of English and French speech used in the dialogue. The dialogue wasn't hokey or forced at all. (5) My favorite scene was the shoot-out between Marcel, his friend from prison, and the two cops. It wasn't a typical action sequence at all. (6) There a small scattering of humor throughout the film so it didn't seem so utterly hopeless. (7) The feel of the film to me dealt mostly with loss and I felt the cinematography and musical score backed that aspect rather well. (8) This was a rather stunning debut from Jean-Claude Lauzon. His writing and direction were (considering the times) definitely out there talentwise and I think that is grounds to for award consideration. He took home two of his own Genie awards for both writing and direction. Eight reasons give this film a score of eight.

What robs this film of a perfect score is the gross nature of some scenes. I nearly wanted to gag when Marcel was raped at the beginning. I guess the material was needed to show how negative this film actually is. There is no shortage of misery and I call viewers to beware this film if they don't have a strong stomach. The other reason was the zoo scene where the elephant was shot. I actually thought that elephant had been killed inside of its cage. I am not anti-hunting but I don't believe shooting a caged animal is right unless it needs to be euthanized. If you are an animal lover, shut your eyes when you get to that scene.

Overall, I found "Un zoo la nuit" to be a rather watchable film. It is perfect for a movie fiend looking for something completely different. Despite a few nasty and misery-laden scenes, it is perfect for anytime viewing. Here ends my rant!

One of the best

[stormb1337 · 8/10 · 22 April 2021]

Wow , if Michael Mann was from Montreal , it would done THIS ! Really great movie , dark neonism.

Love is alive...

[swan_pr · 9/10 · 2 June 2001]

...Even in death. This movie is more than anything anyone can tell you about it. It is not a cop-action movie, not a sociological study, nor an emotional drama. What you will find yourself watching is what you want to really see. But what mostly comes through, however the director gets there, is the love lost between a father and a son. The father having never questioned his love for his son, the son never having thought about his love for his father. They come together after events in the son's life that could be any other hardship a man goes through in his life. This time it's prison.

So the premice is not that original... So the treatment is a bit artsy. But the emotions that flare up between the two men are stronger than the story line, and the acting is what makes it all seem so close to home. The fear of rejection that parents feel when they see their child become an adult, and the feelings of being controlled by their parents, that adults still feel because they haven't grown up yet.

A wonderful movie, powerful, simple in it's message but complex in it's meaning. I would pay anytime to watch it again!

A disturbing, truthful, realistic view at some scary human dysfunction.

[raychenier · 22 January 2003]

In my opinions of course...

This film is to be appreciated by those with a bit of insight (or at least a desire to experience different things), an open mind, and sick of same old predictable script hollywood cr*p. If hollywood is your basis for comparison, Un Zoo la Nuit will either enrich your understanding of what movies should be, or show you that you should stick to with hollywood flicks. Not that hollywood doesn't put out good movies. It's just finding that one in a few hundred movies that winds up being a gem.

Un Zoo la Nuit is a depiction of deceit, drugs, and dysfunctional human relationships. The father/son relationship is classic, sad. Some scenes are extremely memorable (of course the prison rape scene isn't, but things like that do happen in that real world out there). This movie is not brain dead, it might make you think about your situation and of those around you... The son's emotions of love and compassion come through clearly with his father and you are forced to feel for that relationship. The relationship takes a surrealistic twist when it becomes clear no time is left to catch up. However, the son remains a crook and a murderer.

There are no good guys in this movie. Not the stuff of hollywood.

What hollywood did to the original versions of Nikita and The Vanishing, just as a couple of examples, should be enough to turn anyone off. When Pacino kills Deniro at the end of Heat, it's just plain wrong!!! :)

If you want something that is even more outside the box than Un Zoo la Nuit, check out the recent Maelstom with Croze. Keep an open mind with the fish... But again, a realistic and honest view at real humans.

Great movie

[Jean-Luc-3 · 9/10 · 9 July 2002]

It has its shocking elements, but Un Zoo La Nuit is, in the end, a touching film about a son trying to re-establish his relationship with his dying father. The zoo surreal zoo scene is particularily touching, in which the father and son, in an attempt to relive their past by going hunting, shoot an elephant with a sleeping dart gun and put him to sleep. Overall, a well-executed and thoughtful movie.

Let's go Gilles!

[Cheever-3 · 5/10 · 2 March 2000]

The principal attraction of this movie, a family and police drama set in contemporary Montréal, was the great play by Gilles Maheu, which has since then become a sucessful theatre director in Québec and around the world. Seeing him ride a motorcycle and fighting against gangsters was very interesting!

People shouldn't expect to see a similiar movie from "Léolo" of the same director; this one proves to be way less artistically refined.

la piece de garbage

[Rovin · 1/10 · 2 March 2000]

I saw this film in a Canadian university film history class(where they made us watch lots of Canadian movies you would never pay to see). The teacher told us that this film proves that Canada can make a Hollywood-style cop-action flick.

I can only assume he was joking. This was a convoluted, out-of-touch-with-society mess. It starts out with the main character getting raped by an inmate--then we see him engage in a near pornographic display with a hooker. It becomes down right hokey near the end when

(SPOILER WARNING)

the main character's father suffers a heart attack and is being rushed to the hospital and the young man is chasing after it...Then we have the zoo incident. The father and son decide to go moose hunting so they can experience the good ol days. If this was meant to be a tender scene it sure didnt make me sympathetic to them. They cant find a moose in the city so they go to the Zoo--and decide to shoot an elephant instead. The way the elephant "lies down" was pathetic and fake-looking--and I dont see how shooting a caged animal is going to generate any more sympathy from the audience than if they had gone into the forest to shoot a moose--but that's a Canadian film for you. Strange social customs. I'll take a formula Hollywood cop-buddy flick over this any day.

Despite A Number Of Highly Charged Scenes, Does Not Begin To Be Consistently Engaging.

[rsoonsa · 2/10 · 27 March 2010]

Four years were necessary by this film's creative team to raise funding adequate for screening the work, with its setting in Montreal, and its essence as a narrative wayward albeit its production characteristics may well offset its storyline weaknesses for some who will view it by video tape. Winner of a record-setting 13 Genie Awards (Canada's "Oscar" equivalent), the film was the directorial début for Jean-Claude Lauzon, who received a standing ovation at Cannes in 1987 after the picture's showing there, the audience obviously of the belief that there were more than enough artistically positive elements within it to counterbalance its patchwork plot. Lauzon directed but two films prior to his death caused by piloting his airplane into the side of a mountain. He once stated of himself "I always need to be in motion", and this trait, in conjunction with a career background in advertising, probably accounts in part for his maintenance of a frenetic pace for this violence weighted affair. As action begins, Marcel (Gilles Maheu) is being stripped of any dignity that he may have possessed by being forcibly sodomized within his prison cell, and soon after we watch him exit from the prison after completing a two year sentence for some type of narcotics violation. Marcel returns to his apartment that he somehow has managed to retain during his absence and is immediately after visited by a pair of dishonest police detectives who demand $200,000 in cash that he "owes" to them and which he apparently has secreted in too cunning a manner for them to uncover. One of the detectives, George (Lorne Brass) is a homosexual steeped in sadism and it is Marcel's determined efforts to keep the hidden money from the duo while fiercely struggling physically against them that comprise about half of a plot line which also focuses upon the young man's endeavour to repair a severed relationship with his dying father (Roger Le Bel). While Marcel's behaviour upon occasion seems to be vacant of sensate purpose, a viewer will be thankful that his girl friend's appearances in the film are brief, and that the bizarre climactic scenes involving father and son are not lengthier. Some of the film's setups must be deemed as intentionally, in addition to symbolically, grotesque, and there are too many instances when both logic and continuity go begging. Endeavours by a viewer to hearken back to any sort of justification for such episodes will be futile. The earnestly diligent cast members work at creating their roles, with Brass being especially effective as an unprincipled policeman. Dialogue is largely Québécois with a sprinkling of English. Subtitles in the latter tongue are for the most part accurate. Although difficulty for viewers to ken a meandering narrative will be a bit of an impediment, the film is not dull. Well past the film's initial release date, the many awards given it for performances by its crew members are completely understandable, as production quality is never less than excellent. However, the general acclaim from Canada and at Cannes might lead one to presume that its competition may have been, at best, somewhat weak.