Themes of obsession, grief, and death haunt the gloomily lit hallways of Peter Greenaway's clever, funny, tragic, and disturbing artistic masterpiece 'A Zed & Two Noughts'. To describe this film is to describe a work of genius, something I am not exactly prepared for. I can only glowingly praise this film and its queer quirks and impressive precision. Almost every shot is, in its own odd way, by turns beautiful, cryptic, and unsettling (even grotesque at times), and these visuals move perfectly to the rhythm of Michael Nyman's perfect score that only further adds to the artistically orgasmic mastery of this film's every moment. It can be argued that the film has elements of pretension, but I believe that it is too witty and brilliant a film to dismiss w/such overused language, and, although I do not recommend it to everybody, I am ready to make the claim that it is legitimately among the greatest art house films of all time. The bleak comedy and absurd tragedy of the grieving process has hardly ever been showcased w/such a display of stylistic perfection as it is in this film. The way the film moves and glows and darkens and laughs and cries and creeps awkwardly round, constantly disturbing and exciting the viewer, is pulled off by Greenaway in such a way that I beg of anyone interested to seek out this film almost immediately. It isn't always fun, but it is too worthwhile to ignore. It utilizes black comedy, surrealism, the avant garde, philosophy, and complete complexity in the most delightfully cinematic manner...it is a true masterpiece.
Review of A Zed & Two Noughts
