A Zed & Two Noughts (1985)

User Rating:

7.3/10   

Director:

Peter Greenaway

Writer:

Peter Greenaway (written by)

Release Date:

25 May 1990 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Oliver Deuce, a successful doctor, is shattered when his wife is killed in a freak car accident involving...

Plot Keywords:

Twins | Zoo | Car Accident | Obsession | Suicide

Cast

Andréa Ferréol	...	Alba Bewick
Brian Deacon	...	Oswald Deuce
Eric Deacon	...	Oliver Deuce
Frances Barber	...	Venus de Milo
Joss Ackland	...	Van Hoyten
Jim Davidson	...	Joshua Plate
Agnès Brulet	...	Beta Bewick
Guusje van Tilborgh	...	Caterina Bolnes
Gerard Thoolen	...	Van Meegeren
Ken Campbell	...	Stephen Pipe
Wolf Kahler	...	Felipe Arc-en-Ciel
Geoffrey Palmer	...	Fallast
David Attenborough	...	Documentary Narrator (voice)

Directed by
Peter Greenaway

Writing credits
Peter Greenaway		(written by)

Produced by
Kees Kasander	....	producer
Peter Sainsbury	....	producer

Original Music by
Michael Nyman

Cinematography by
Sacha Vierny

Film Editing by
John Wilson

Casting by
Sharon Howard-Field

Production Design by
Ben van Os
Jan Roelfs

Costume Design by
Patricia Lim

Makeup Department
Sara Meerman	....	makeup artist
Yvonne Minderman	....	hair stylist
Nicole Mora	....	makeup artist
Floris Schuller	....	special makeup effects artist

Production Management
Denis Wigman	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Marietta De Vries	....	second assistant director
Gerrit Martijn	....	first assistant director

Art Department
John Gerritsen	....	set constructor
Maarten Piersma	....	set constructor
Constance Van Os	....	set dresser

Sound Department
Tony Anscombe	....	dubbing mixer
Dushko Indjic	....	boom operator (as Dushko Injij)
Jo Ann Kaplan	....	sound effects editor (as Joann Kaplan)
Garth Marshall	....	sound recordist
Peter Maxwell	....	sound re-recording mixer
C. Ware	....	sound editor
Matthew Whiteman	....	dialogue editor
Steve Hancock	....	sound camera operator (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
Tony Willis	....	effects cameraman (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Luke Cardiff	....	additional photography assistant
David Claessen	....	camera operator
Mike Coles	....	additional photographer
Agnès Godard	....	focus puller
Francoise Gonin	....	lighting assistant
Nico Komen	....	best boy
Hayo Piebenga	....	still photographer
Steve Pyke	....	still photographer
Chris Renson	....	clapper loader
Pierre Speyer	....	grip
Pit Stenut	....	gaffer
Benoît Theunissen	....	grip
Rene van De Eijk	....	lighting assistant
Michel Verloed	....	grip
Richard Weber	....	lighting assistant

Casting Department
Emma Style	....	casting assistant

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Dien van Straalen	....	wardrobe
Joke Visser	....	tailor

Editorial Department
Milfid Ellis	....	second assistant editor
Joe Frost	....	first assistant editor

Music Department
Alexander Balanescu	....	musician: violin
Arno Bons	....	musician
Gerard Bouwhis	....	musician
Bas Dekker	....	musician
Pieter Gouderjaan	....	musician
Rob Hageman	....	musician
John Helstone	....	musician
Jan Jansen	....	musician
Sofia Kiss	....	musician
Henk Leether	....	musician
Sarah Leonard	....	musician: singer
Beverly Lund	....	musician
Michael Nyman	....	musician: harpsichord
Gerrit Oloeman	....	musician
Elisabeth Perry	....	musician: violin
Jelle Schouten	....	musician
Jorn Shroeder	....	musician
Peter Stan	....	musician
Win Steinman	....	musician
Leo Van Oostron	....	musician
Marien Van Staalen	....	musician
Adri Van Velson	....	musician
Peter Veenhuizen	....	musician
Lene Te Voortwis	....	musician
Frans Vreugdenhil	....	musician
Gerbrand Westveen	....	musician

Transportation Department
Ron van de Woude	....	production driver
Peter Verzendaal	....	production driver

Other crew
Hans De Graaf	....	caterer
Walter Donohue	....	story editor
Evelien Jansen	....	production assistant
Lidewij Kapteyn	....	set building
Vera Langley	....	chaperone
Muicke Leewenberg	....	location manager
Ines Meeusen	....	production secretary
Johan Ommering	....	runner
Paul Oomen	....	runner
Roger Phillips	....	title designer
Els Rastelli	....	continuity
Luke Redgrave	....	production assistant
Lin Simenon	....	chaperone
Karin Spiegel	....	production coordinator
Catherine Van Beuzekom	....	caterer
Adriaan Van Der Heuvel	....	set building
Wilbert Van Dorp	....	set building
Ank Van Straalen	....	flower arrangement
Sofie Van Wel	....	assistant location manager

Production Companies

• British Film Institute (BFI)
• Allarts Enterprises
• Artificial Eye
• Film Four International
• Vrijzinnig Protestantse Radio Omroep (VPRO)

Distributors

• Artificial Eye (1985) (UK) (theatrical)
• British Film Institute (BFI) (2004) (UK) (DVD) (digital remaster version)
• Cine Saison (1987) (Japan) (theatrical) (censored)
• Dolmen Home Video (2004) (Italy) (DVD)
• Dolmen Home Video (2006) (Italy) (DVD) (boxed set)
• Kinokuniya (2005) (Japan) (DVD) (digital remaster version)
• Kinowelt Home Entertainment (2005) (Germany) (DVD)
• Skouras Pictures (1990) (USA)
• Top Tape (Brazil) (video)
• Transeuropa Video Entertainment (TVE) (Argentina) (video)
• Umbrella Entertainment (2004) (Australia) (DVD)
• Zeitgeist Films (2007) (USA) (all media)

Other Companies

• Ecco Film Catering  catering
• Survival Anglia  natural history photography
• David Speards  time-lapse photography
• Frameline Productions Ltd.  titles (as Frameline)
• GSE  opticals

Runtime:

115 min

Country:

UK | Netherlands

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Argentina:16 | Australia:M | Finland:K-12 | Sweden:11 | UK:15 | Spain:T | Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Rotterdam Zoo, Rotterdam, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands

Company:

British Film Institute (BFI)

Trivia:

Early in the movie, we are shown a front-page newspaper article about the deaths of the protagonists' wives. This front page also contains sidebar articles detailing events from two of director Peter Greenaway's subsequent films, The Belly of an Architect (1987) (the article headlined "Architect Dies") and Drowning by Numbers (1988) (the article headlined "A Hot Bath Heart Attack").

Quotes:

Oliver Deuce: Pregnant women are notoriously unreliable. Especially when they're trying to procure an abortion.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Tulse Luper Suitcases, Part 1: The Moab Story (2003)

Soundtrack:

An Elephant Never Forgets

Heartless and soulless

Here's another review to stuff at the back of the "Zed" log with the other pans. I loved "Drowning By Numbers" so was interested in this as a film previous to it. "Drowning" is basically absurdist, like "Zed", but it also has humour, warmth & humanity. This thing is an absurdist black hole. Seems there's a lot of symmetry in Greenaway's universe, and in some circles symmetry is considered a close adjunct of meaning, but here the opposite is true. Striking cinematography aside (the only thing that earned this film its 2 points), this is a waste of time. I found myself wondering why I was still sitting in the seat. It is ideologically driven: Greenaway has a philosophical world-view to get across and nothing stands in its way. The characters are ciphers in its service: we care absolutely nothing for them. The film is an expression of an intellectual death obsession. It is the fact that the driving force here is intellectual that makes the film disgusting and pretentious. An egghead's movie about his despair at being an egghead. Avoid at all costs.