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Kafka meets Cronenberg, with a side order of gloomy Russian humor, in Zoology, a tragicomic fable about an ostracized outsider fighting back against a crushingly conventional society.

Natasha (Natalia Pavlenkova) works as procurement manager at a zoo. She has more friends among the caged animals than her mean-spirited colleagues who regard her as an object of ridicule, ripe for bullying. When she faints in the office, they consider it an inconvenience rather than a cause for concern. There is a weary resignation in Pavlenkova’s performance that immediately wins our sympathy for Natasha, who stays at home with her mother and just seems to be going through the motions of a life.

Natasha starts to grow a tail, and no matter how odd this may seem it could be the best thing that ever happened to her. She appears unperturbed by its appearance and comes to regard it as a special secret. It is the catalyst for great change. Like a latter-day Sleeping Beauty, she suddenly comes alive and behaves like a different person. Attracting the attentions of younger doctor Petya (Dmitri Groshev), she starts to wear make-up, dress differently and go out into the world.

Director: Ivan I. Tverdovskiy
Cast: Masha Tokareva, Natalya Pavlenkova, Aleksandr Gorchilin, Dmitriy Groshev
Country: Russia, France, Germany
Genre: Drama

BD50 + DVD9 | 1080p AVC, NTSC | 01:30:45 | 28.2 Gb + 6.90 Gb + 3% rec
Language: Russian
Subtitles: English

Extras:
-- An Appointment with the Doctor (1080p; 12:33) is an interview with actor Dmitry Groshev. In Russian with English subtitles.
-- The Tail of Zoology (1080p; 24:39) features film historian Peter Hames.
-- Trailer (1080p; 1:45)