The Zookeeper - a Ralph Ziman film starring Sam Neill
Number of Hexaflex points: 3
A moving film set in an unspecified Eastern European country that has a Bosnian like civil war raging, in which a zookeeper, Ludovic (a superb performance by Sam Neill) is haunted by his past, when he wielded power over a local populace. Only after he meets Ankica ( who, with her son, are refugees from the fighting seeking sanctuary in the now all but deserted zoo) who recounts the horrors she has experienced at the hands of someone in that position, does he begin to accept what he has done, allowing him to emotionally thaw out a little. He also hides his feelings for his dead wife, literally in a box hidden away, which is found by Ankica who tells him his feelings are 'beautiful', again allowing him to accept the caring side of himself (toward people) more.
There is an interesting portrayal of the (sometimes) subtle difference between running away from our experience & moving toward a valued direction: Ludovic appears to hold the value of being a good person strongly (represented by him being only one of two people willing to stay on & care for the animals when everyone else has left), but Ankica questions whether this is in fact a cover for running away from connectedness with other people, & by extension, himself.
Committed action is demonstrated by Ludovic as he begins his emotional thawing & looks after both Ankica & her son, Zioig, as well as his caring for the zoo animals, & toward the end of the film, himself. This is an interesting portrayal of achieving psychological flexibility: he finally agrees to deviate from his rigid pattern of behaviour (staying with the animals) & leave when it is clear that all is lost. He shows anger initially when this course of action is suggested, much like someone holding on to behaviour that is self-defeating but at least familiar.