Zarafa Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		4.0

Zarafa Blu-ray Movie Review

Sticking your neck out for a friend.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman November 5, 2015

How do you feel when you go to a zoo? Are you fascinated by the incredible variety of wildlife our planet supports? Or are you depressed that this ostensible “wild” life is forced to live in captivity, sometimes far removed from its natural habitat and even climate? Perhaps you feel a combination of the two, and are therefore somewhat conflicted if and when you visit such a facility. There’s a perhaps inadvertent connection drawn in Zarafa between animals in captivity and actual slavery, as the film details the arrival of the first giraffe in Paris circa 1827, a fascinating tidbit from the actual historical record, which in this formulation is combined with a touching story of a young Sudanese boy who befriends the sweet long necked beast while he himself is trying to avoid being captured and sold into slavery. What is on its face a rather odd combination of plot elements actually ends up being generally compelling, especially within an exotic presentation that often recalls the sumptuous work of Michel Ocelot (Tales of the Night, Kirikou and the Sorceress, Azur & Asmar). The actual story of Zarafa, a Nubian giraffe who was captured as an “infant” and transported in a number of fanciful ways (including on a camel) from her homeland to Paris, where she was presented to King Charles X, is one of the odder sidebars in the histories of the African subcontinent and Europe, but Zarafa doesn’t really feel honor bound to stick to “the facts, and just the facts”. Instead, this short but affecting film deals in both whimsy and a somewhat darker emotional undertone that gives the film a rather distinctive flavor.

In fact very much like in some of Michel Ocelot’s films, Zafara deals with its story almost like a folktale, including the fact that it’s being related to a bunch of village youngsters by an elder. That “meta” aspect actually gets in the way a time or two as directors Rémi Bezançon (who also co-wrote) and Jean-Christophe Lie detour from the main tale back to the old guy telling it, something that tends to interrupt flow on occasion. The reason for this bookending and interstitial approach is ultimately revealed, in a none too surprising denouement at the end which is still undeniably moving.

The story the village elder tells is about a young boy named Maki who has found himself chained and ready to be auctioned off as property by a vicious slave trader named Moreno. Maki at least has the companionship of a little girl named Soula who is chained next to him. Maki discovers that he’s so emaciated his ankle and foot will slip right out of their supposed bondage, and he urges Soula to do the same. A moment’s hesitation on the part of Soula proves to be the difference between Maki’s freedom and Soula’s enslavement, for Maki is able to at least run away from the slave trader’s camp, albeit not without some scary obstacles getting in the way.

In a mystical moment that again is quite reminiscent of Ocelot’s oeuvre, Maki, who’s being chased by Moreno and a really vicious attack dog, finds shelter at a huge, almost monolithic, tree, a tree which seems to respond with a native intelligence to Maki’s pleas for help. That help at least gets Moreno and his little pet out of the way, if only for the time being. When Maki emerges from the tree, he’s confronted by a family of giraffes, including the baby who will soon be adorned with the name Zarafa (Arabic for giraffe).

In what might be seen as at least something of an analog to a plot development in Bambi, the actions of Man, or at least a man, leads to the demise of an animal parent, in this case Zarafa’s mother, a murder which Maki witnesses, motivating the little boy to promise the dying beast that he will watch over her child. In the meantime, Maki finds not one but two people watching over him, albeit with different aims. Moreno reenters the scene seemingly as menacingly as ever, but suddenly Maki finds a protector in a mysterious but obviously powerful Bedouin named Hassan. Hassan is able to actually deal with Moreno fairly easily, something he will continue to do and which perhaps deprives Zarafa of some villain based tension. Hassan also just so happens to be on the hunt for a giraffe (what are the odds?), and so takes little Zarafa under his wing, which of course leads Maki to tag along, since Maki feels he’s the little giraffe’s true companion.

Ultimately Maki and Hassan get Zarafa to civilization in Alexandria, where the Pasha of Egypt (obviously modeled on the similar character in the Korda The Thief of Bagdad) turns out to be Hassan’s boss. The Pasha has come up with the perhaps questionable gambit of presenting the King of France with a giraffe in order to sway the monarch into helping with Egypt’s war against the Turks. Meanwhile Hassan and Maki have also found Hassan’s old friend Malaterre, who just happens to have a hot air balloon (what are the odds?). A mad scheme is hatched to get Zarafa out of the beseiged city by flying over the Turkish attack ships in Malaterre’s balloon. That turns out to be just the start of a new adventure for Maki, who actually ends up on a pirate ship manned (or perhaps more accurately womanned) by Bouboulina.

The film ultimately does wend its way to Paris, where Zarafa becomes an “exhibit”, something that chafes at Maki’s sensibilities. Once again Moreno shows up, only this time it appears—if only for a moment—that the bad guy may triumph after all. A magical realist element of sorts is added in a bit of whimsy involving Zarafa’s ability to communicate with Maki, and then the elder’s fable comes full circle in a charming (if perhaps just slightly discursive) revelation.

Zarafa is never less than charming, and it certainly is built around one of the more fascinatingly odd stories from the annals of history. But the film may leave some wanting more. At not much over an hour in length, Zarafa often feels like a slightly redacted version of a more compelling story. It’s true that sometimes the journey ends up being more important than the destination, but in Zarafa’s case, some may wish the trip had taken just a bit longer.

Zarafa Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Zarafa is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Cinedigm and G Kids with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.35:1. This is a really charmingly done piece which segues in style rather subtly at times from an almost photorealistic (or at least Disney or Bluth realistic) aesthetic to something a bit more abstract. The palette is really gorgeously varied and lush, varying from warm earth tones in the desert sequences to a kind of burnished blue and teal look for some of the Paris set scenes. Line detail is sharp and precise and the image is typically very sharp and well defined. There is some pretty egregious banding in the first nighttime sequence when Maki is making camp with Hassan and Zarafa. (I attempted to catch some of this anomaly in screencapture 11, though it actually doesn't look as acute in the still as it does in motion when watching the film.)

Zarafa Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Zarafa features DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mixes in both French and English. The film derives quite a bit of surround activity from well done ambient environmental effects, and with the characters traversing seemingly half the globe to get Zarafa from Africa to France, there's a lot of opportunity for everything from windblown sand to cannon fire to the flutter of birds over the seas. Some of the best surround activity comes courtesy of the charming score by Laurent Perez. Dialogue (including some narration from the elder) is well rendered, with excellent clarity and prioritization.

Zarafa Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• The Making of Zarafa (1080p; 23:55) is a very interesting look at both the real history behind the film as well as the adaptive and production processes.


• The Giraffe of Paris (480p; 17:06) appears to be a vintage documentary about the real Zarafa, maybe done as an educational film for French kids. This looks like it's been slightly anamorphically squeezed, meaning that giraffe necks are really skinny.


• Giraffe Mania (1080p; 13:43) is a really fun tour through some of the paraphenalia and exhibits contained in a museum devoted to Zarafa.


• U.S. Trailer (1080p; 1:49)

Zarafa Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Zarafa seems to be a candy colored fable on one level, until suddenly little story elements like slavery and animal "husbandry" start to portend something a bit more serious. Those who have fallen in love with the works of Michel Ocelot will certainly adore Zarafa, while those who are looking for a really unusual and unusually beautiful animated film should consider giving this one a chance. Highly recommended.