''Night Zoo'' () is a 1987 Canadian film. It is

directed Direct may refer to: Mathematics * Directed set, in order theory * Direct limit of (pre), sheaves * Direct sum of modules, a construction in abstract algebra which combines several vector spaces Computing * Direct access (disambiguation), a ...

and

written Writing is the act of creating a persistent representation of language. A writing system includes a particular set of symbols called a ''script'', as well as the rules by which they encode a particular spoken language. Every written language ...

Jean-Claude Lauzon Jean-Claude Lauzon (September 29, 1953 – August 10, 1997) was a Canadian filmmaker and screenwriter. Born to a working class family in Montreal, Quebec, Lauzon dropped out of high school and worked various jobs before studying film at the Univ ...

. It made its debut at the

1987 Cannes Film Festival The 40th Cannes Film Festival took place from 7 to 19 May 1987. French-Italian actor Yves Montand served as jury president for the main competition. French filmmaker Maurice Pialat won the ''Palme d'Or'', the festival's top prize, for the drama ...

. The film was selected as the Canadian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the

60th Academy Awards The 60th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), took place on April 11, 1988, at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles beginning at 6:00 p.m. PDT. During the ceremony, AMPAS presented ...

, but was not accepted as a nominee. It was also the most successful film in the history of the

Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television The Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television is a Canadian non-profit organization created in 1979 to recognize the achievements of the over 4,000 Canadian cinema of Canada, film industry and television in Canada, television industry professionals ...

's film awards program up to that point, winning a record 13

Genie Awards The Genie Awards were given out annually by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to recognize the best of Canadian cinema from 1980–2012. They succeeded the Canadian Film Awards (1949–1978), known as the "Etrog Awards" for sculpt ...

in every single category where it was nominated. The film garnered 14 nominations overall; the film's only nomination that failed to translate into a win was Gilles Maheu's nod for Best Actor, as he lost to the film's other Best Actor nominee,

Roger Lebel Roger Lebel (June 5, 1923 – June 18, 1994) was a Canadians, Canadian actor. Career Label was born in Rivière-du-Loup, Quebec, Canada. A Québécois character actor, Roger Lebel began his career on stage and in radio. He started to show up mo ...

Plot

Marcel (Gilles Maheu) is released from

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, or remand center, is a facility where Prisoner, people are Imprisonment, imprisoned under the authority of the State (polity), state ...

after completing a two year sentence for narcotics crime, hoping to reconcile with his dying father, Albert (Roger Lebel), who seems to believe his son has been away on a vacation. His former girlfriend Julie (Lynne Adams) is now working in a

sex club Sex clubs, also known as swinger clubs or lifestyle clubs, are formal or informal groups that organize sex-related activities, or establishments where patrons can engage in sex acts with other patrons. A sex club or swinger club differs from a br ...

peep show A peep show, peepshow, or, a peep booth is a presentation of a live sex show or pornographic film which is viewed through a viewing slot. Several historical media provided voyeuristic entertainment through hidden erotic imagery. Before the devel ...

. When he returns home, he is soon visited by a pair of dishonest police detectives who demand $200,000 in cash that they believe he still possesses from his earlier activity. One of the detectives, George (Lorne Brass) is a homosexual steeped in sadism, who frequently uses violence to attempt to break him. Amidst the threats he navigates, Marcel and Albert repair their relationship, culminating in an after hours break-in at a local zoo.

Reception

Box office

The film grossed $1 million in Quebec within three months of its release.

Awards

The film won the most

in history, with thirteen awards. Gilles Maheu and

were both nominated for best actor. In 1987, the film won the Grand Prix for Best Film at

Film Fest Gent Film Fest Gent, also known as International Film Fest Gent, is an annual international film festival in Ghent, Belgium. The festival held its first edition in 1974, under the name Internationaal Filmgebeuren Gent, and has since grown into the la ...

Accolades

Its record 14 Genie Award nominations were tied by the film ''

Brother A brother (: brothers or brethren) is a man or boy who shares one or more parents with another; a male sibling. The female counterpart is a sister. Although the term typically refers to a family, familial relationship, it is sometimes used ende ...

'' at the

11th Canadian Screen Awards The 11th Canadian Screen Awards, presented by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television, honoured achievements in Canadian film, television and digital media production in 2022.12th Canadian Screen Awards The 12th Canadian Screen Awards were presented by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television to honour achievements in Canadian film, television and digital media production in 2023. They were held at the Canadian Broadcasting Centre in Toronto ...

in 2024 by ''

BlackBerry BlackBerry is a discontinued brand of handheld devices and related mobile services, originally developed and maintained by the Canadian company Research In Motion (RIM, later known as BlackBerry Limited) until 2016. The first BlackBerry device ...

'', which took 14 awards from 17 overall nominations.

Availability

The film was released on videocassette and laserdisc in the United States in 1988 by

New World The term "New World" is used to describe the majority of lands of Earth's Western Hemisphere, particularly the Americas, and sometimes Oceania."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: ...

and in Canada that same year by Cinema Plus Video. In 1991, an EP-Mode tape of the film was released by Starmaker Video. After Lauzon was killed in the northern Quebec plane crash in 1997,

CBC Television CBC Television (also known as CBC TV, or simply CBC) is a Television in Canada, Canadian English-language terrestrial television, broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcasting, p ...

Télé-Québec The (; ), branded as () (formerly known as ), is a Canadian French-language public educational television network in the province of Quebec. It is a provincial Crown corporation owned by the Government of Quebec. The network's main studios an ...

and Showcase aired ''Night Zoo'' and ''

Léolo ''Léolo'' is a 1992 Canadian coming-of-age film, coming-of-age fantasy film, fantasy comedy-drama written and directed by Jean-Claude Lauzon. The film tells the story of a young boy named Léo "Léolo" Lauzon, played by Maxime Collin, who engages ...

'' in August.Playback Staff,
Industry mourns Lauzon, Tougas
" '' Playback'', 25 August 1997, URL accessed 26 August 2016. To this day, ''Night Zoo'' has never been released on DVD and as of June 28, 2011, no plans have been made to release the film onto DVD. It was digitized and restored in May 2013 by Éléphant and is available for online rental on the iTunes Store.

References

Works cited

External links

* {{Canadian submission for Academy Awards 1987 films 1987 crime drama films Canadian LGBTQ-related films 1987 LGBTQ-related films Best Picture Genie and Canadian Screen Award winners Films shot in Montreal Films set in Montreal Films directed by Jean-Claude Lauzon Canadian crime drama films French-language Canadian films 1980s Canadian films LGBTQ-related crime drama films Canadian neo-noir films