We Bought...a Zoo

           (Before you read this post you should know that I and the red shoes had an argument. And now they are in the closet. Honestly, I don’t think I can live without them for a long time but they won’t interfere in this post. I can guarantee you that. They would probably make me write about “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” and that’s not what I want. This text will not have anything to do with fashion. I want it to be the exception.)

A friend asked me the other day about the movie of my life.  I said I didn’t have one.  “Alright”, he said, “but what’s your favorite movie?”. I thought about it for a while and figured I still didn’t have one. “Maybe I’m too young for it”, I replied.  Later, when I was alone at home I kept thinking about the “movie of my life” and the truth is I love cinema and there are a lot of movies that I’m passionate about but any of them seemed to have changed my life. Maybe they all changed me in a good way and gave me new perspectives. Maybe I’m just too undecided to pick just one. It’s an unfair decision! It’s like having to choose my favorite outfit or maybe even harder than that (Sorry, I said I wasn’t going to talk about fashion…). There are movies that cheer me up and some that make me cry like a waterfall. There are movies that appeared in the roughest situations of my life and others that arrived in the happiest ones. But I honestly believe that we are not only what we do and what we eat but also what we wear (Oops, I did it again!, well but there is not always true) and what we love. When I watch a movie I’m looking for some laughs, crying, brilliant performances, an involving plot and specially an inspiring message. That’s why I picked a movie that has all that. It may not be an Oscar movie but it is one of the few whose trailer is enough to make me cry. Besides, it is based on a true stoy. I’m going to write about “We Bought a Zoo”, directed by Cameron Crowe.

               

                I personally feel attracted to characters that change their conventional way of living to do something risky that most people think is non-sense. Benjamin Mee (Matt Damon), a few months after the death of his wife, quits his job as a reporter and decides to move to a dilapidated zoo with his two kids, taking the challenge of reopening it to the public. The rehabilitation of the zoo is a metaphor to the rebuild of his life and his family’s. Benjamin is finding hard to bound with his 14 year-old son, Dylan, that is suffering more than his younger daughter Rosie that despite the sadness she is feeling - «Their happy is too loud», she says referring to a party in the neighbors' house, is thrilled with the idea of moving to a zoo. Benjamin hopes the zoo can bring the family together and happiness to their lives. He would end up by helping many other people that relied on him to recover the zoo.

                «Why not?»

                Love is what moves the characters. They suffer out of love for someone that is not there anymore and they risk in the name of love: romantic and family. The romantic side of the movie is vital, at least to me. The history of how Benjamin first met his wife is just perfect - «Why should an amazing woman like you even talk to someone like me?”, “Why not?”. This sentence would guide his decisions throughout his life and helps explaining why he is braver to invest in something risky.

The love between Dylan and Lily, a girl that works in the zoo, is also inspiring. It is the typical first love story but it is impossible to stay indifferent to the scene in which Dylan finds courage to confess his feelings for her, while standing in the intense rain.

         «Attempt to start over. Sun light. Joy.».

                The movie is full of precious details that make all the difference to make it profound: starting with the soundtrack that perfectly suits every single emotion and also the lightning. The way the sun light hits on  characters’ faces is one of the most beautiful things I have seen happening in cinema that actually do happen in real life, creating a sense of hope and possibility of happiness that move us. There is a particular scene when Benjamin finds courage to watch the pictures of his wife. He starts crying but then he starts to feel the happiness of those moments and he laughs. His wife is now playing with his kids enjoying life around him. His living room turns into a park. The sun light is absolutely magical. His imagination turns the memory real to him. This a turning point when he overcomes grief and seems to take his brother’s advice to attempt to start over. He understands he doesn’t have to forget but he has to let it go, to save it in a precious place of his memory, so that the universe can give him what he needs.  

                 «I like the animals but I love the people»

                What appears to be a movie about animals is actually a movie about people and relations. The animals are there to show us humans the simplicity of feeling. Benjamin does everything to save an old tiger from death until he realizes there is anything more to be done, he has to go. The tiger embodies his fearing of forgetting and moving on. Animals are basically a serene and cathartic element. They seem to be the ones that need to be helped but in fact they are the ones that help the humans. Contacting with nature brings happiness back to Benjamin and his children.

                «Literally, 20 seconds»

“We bought a Zoo” was first presented to me on a plain when I was returning from New York City and a few days later I watched it again in the theatre. I was immediately in love with the movie. I don’t think I can explain why it means so much to me but I think you will understand it better when I tell you my favorite line of the movie. It’s an advice Benjamin gives to his son and is something that I always try to keep in mind. I think we should all try. «Sometimes all you need is twenty seconds of insane courage. Just literally twenty seconds of just embarrassing bravery. And I promise you, something great will come of it». 

                Just me