Monday, January 29, 2007
Sundance 07: 'Zoo' Wows Shuttle Driver
The drive between Park City, Utah and the Salt Lake City Airport takes thirty minutes depending on weather conditions and the number of passenger pick-ups. Exiting Sundance is always a test in patience thanks to overflowing shuttle vans. One way of coping with the return trip is to debate festival films with the fellow passengers. When the crowd is a mix between festival attendees and skiers who happened to catch some movies, the conversations turn livelier.
Most everyone in my van this festival agreed that the Dakota Fanning drama "Hounddog" was awful and that Marla Olmstead, the young girl painter in the documentary "My Kid Could Paint That," did receive help from her father.
The Sundance film that generated the most interest from the shuttle driver was Robinson Devor's (pictured above) documentary "Zoo," about a group of men who have sex with horses. One, he couldn't believe anything like that happens. Two, he wondered who would make a movie like "Zoo" and who would watch it?
Told that "Zoo" was more artful than graphic, the driver settled down. Still, it's worth noting that of all the films discussed, "Zoo" was the one he kept discussing. Personally, I considered his outbursts a good sign for "Zoo."
