Zoo in Budapest (1933)
Directed by Rowland V. Lee

Film Review

Zoo in Budapest is one of the weirder films directed by Rowland V. Lee, one of Hollywood's more capable directors of the 1930s, best remembered today for such enduring classics as The Son of Frankenstein (1939) and The Son of Monte Cristo (1940).  A curious mix of fable and fairytale, it has something of the allegorical character of George Orwell's later novella Animal Farm.  The revolution which is depicted so graphically in the film's terrifying climax appears to anticipate a similarly violent workers' revolt, of the kind that had already happened in Imperial Russia and was likely to sweep across the continent of Europe as the Great Depression worsened.  Like Orwell's famous novel, the film is open to many interpretations and can be enjoyed as a piece of escapist fun, appealing to children and adults alike.  You can't help wondering if Orwell saw the film and took inspiration from it.

In common with just about every film Rowland V. Lee put his name to, Zoo in Budapest is a slick, well-paced production which has considerable artistic merit as well as being an assured crowdpleaser.  The film's artistry owes a great deal to cinematographer Lee Garmes, whose stylish compositions bring an exquisite visual poetry and timeless quality to the film, showing both expressionistic and impressionistic influences.  Most striking is the sequence in which the central protagonists Eve and Zani (Loretta Young and Gene Raymond) appear to be re-enacting a scene from the Garden of Eden (Young's character is aptly named).  The sublime beauty of the eerily luminous photography suggests innocence and spiritual fulfilment, but there is also a subtle undercurrent of eroticism. Significantly, this is the only part of the film where the human protagonists appears to be in complete harmony with Nature.  For most of the film, there is a crushing sense of oppression, with many of the human characters seeming to be as cruelly confined (by their social situation and unnecessary strictures) as the animals in the zoo.  Not content with making cages for animals, Man has to make cages for himself.

The languorous pace and gentle tone of the film means that the animal uprising that arrives at the end comes as a horrific surprise.  Nothing prepares us for the ten minutes of utter anarchy that explodes on the screen in the film's shocking denouement.  The editing and music add further dramatic impact to the striking images of animals running amok, destroying everything that man has erected to suppress their natural instincts.  It is the most spectacular conclusion to any Hollywood production of this era, and no film does more to drive home man's disconnection from the natural world, so say nothing of his crass exploitation of animals.   Gene Raymond's Zani is the only human protagonist we can fully sympathise with, the one character who appears to be in communion with Nature and looks on all animals as equals.  How utterly tragic is the film's ending which shows Eve and Zani giving up the zoo and going to live 'just like other people', perpetuating the schism between Man and Nature that will no doubt lead Man to his ultimate demise.  Zoo in Budapest is an enticing piece of cinema which, in the guise of popular entertainment, subtly evokes the Fall of Man and contains a moral that we should all take to heart.

Film Synopsis

The zoo in Budapest is a popular attraction but no one loves the zoo's animals more than Zani, the son of a former keeper who has a natural rapport with beasts of any kind.  The sight of women wearing furs so appals Zani that he steals the offending articles and burns them, which creates problems for the zoo's director, the kindly Dr Grunbaum.  In the end, Grunbaum has no choice but to hand Zani over to the authorities, but Zani has no intention of ending up being put in a cage like an animal.  Skilfully avoiding his pursuers, Zani makes the acquaintance of Eve, a young woman whom he had earlier encouraged to run away from her orphanage before she can be sold into servitude.  Hiding out in an empty bear pit, Zani and Eve realise they are strongly attracted to one another, and already Eve is contemplating a future with the man she has fallen in love with.  They are joined by a little boy who has stayed behind in the zoo after closing time in the hope of getting an elephant ride.  As Grunbaum and his staff scour the zoo for Zani, Eve and the missing boy, the latter accidentally releases a tiger, which promptly attacks an elephant.  Enraged, the elephant demolishes the gates to its enclosure, and soon it and its fellows are on a wild rampage, releasing other animals as they go.  What ensues is an orgy of destruction which nothing can stop.  The animal revolution has begun!