SATURDAY, APRIL 4, 2020 C1

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NEWS CRITICISM

5 TELEVISION REVIEW

A World War II drama with

ordinary people. BY MIKE HALE

3 MUSIC

A few notes on meditation.

BY CORINNA da FONSECA-WOLLHEIM

5 TELEVISION

On ‘Tiger King,’

a sideways sideshow

kind of reality.

BY JON CARAMANICA

If a sea lion claps at the Bronx Zoo, and no
one is around to hear it, does it make a
sound?
There is plenty of time to ponder koans
these days at the animal park, where the co-
ronavirus pandemic has left the sea lions,
and the rest of its roughly 6,000 creatures,
without an audience. In this busy season at
the zoo, when people typically pack in —
children atop their parents’ shoulders — to
see the sea lions eat, there is no one stand-
ing at the pool railing.
Or walking the pathways of Astor Court,
with its Beaux-Arts buildings. Or sitting at
the picnic tables. Or riding Wild Asia, the
seasonal monorail that tours the habitats of
red pandas, elephants and rhinos.
Still, the life of the zoo goes on, as the sea
lions perform their routines, no doubt en-
couraged by the fish they swallow in a sin-
gle gulp. At the Bronx Zoo, a gelada monkey roamed around the baboon reserve. The zoo is
closed because of the coronavirus pandemic, but for its inhabitants life goes on.

JULIE LARSEN MAHER/WILDLIFE CONSERVATION SOCIETY

Working From a Quieter Home

Bronx Zoo residents maintain

routines without an audience.

By JULIA JACOBS

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ONE OF THE WORLD’S OLDEST films,

“Sneeze,” is a gift that keeps on giving. Shot

in 1894 and about as long as an achoo, it

shows a mustachioed gent emitting a single

sneeze, a kerchief clutched in one hand. The

film was made by W.K.L. Dickson and the

sneeze delivered by Fred Ott. Working in

Thomas Edison’s New Jersey studio, they

gave us the first celluloid sneeze, an open-

mouth exhalation that was meant to be hu-

morous but today seems ominous. Cover

your mouth!I yelled when I looked at it

again.

“Sneeze” is just one of many films that

you can watch free online courtesy of the Li-

brary of Congress, which partly acquires

deposits through the United States Copy-

right Office. The biggest library in the

world, it has an extraordinary trove of on-

line offerings — more than 7,000 videos —

that includes hundreds of old (and really

old) movies. With one click, you can watch

Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show parade down

Fifth Avenue in 1902; click again to giggle at

Krazy Kat and Ignatz Mouse in a 1916 car-

toon. And while the library is temporarily

closed to the public, its virtual doors remain

open. It remains one of my favorite places to

get lost in.

The Library of Congress was created in

MANOHLA DARGIS CRITIC’S NOTEBOOK

An Online Trove of Film Treasures

The Library of Congress

offers up-close looks at

our history in thousands

of videos, all free.

Clockwise from top left: This 1896 kiss was a

scandal in its day; “The Cry of Jazz” from 1959

features the music of Sun Ra; the first celluloid

sneeze was delivered by Fred Ott in 1894;

James Agee, Helen Levitt and Janice Loeb

filmed this slice of life, “In the Street” (1948).

CONTINUED ON PAGE C2

KHTB PRODUCTIONS

NATIONAL FILM REGISTRY, VIA LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

NATIONAL FILM REGISTRY, VIA LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

NATIONAL FILM REGISTRY, VIA LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

I felt the rumblings of a panic attack just

now, while I was typing. It starts with a

burning sensation in my temples. My chest

tightens up a little, suddenly corseted, and

my vision tunnels like one of those old west-

ern photos in which everyone is grim-faced.

That is merely the prequel.

When the actual attack hits, it feels like

the moment someone jumps out and scares

you in a haunted house, except it lasts for 10,

20, 30 minutes at a time — words flying

through my head unattached to any mean-

ing, limbs tingling as if blood supply has

slowed to a drip. Worst of all, my breath

drops out like I’ve suddenly leapt to a great

altitude, and a little voice pipes up telling

me that this is it, my brain is about to tip into

insanity, forever unable to return to normal.

Right now, as coughs around the world are

Calm Your Disquiet

By Embracing It

Claire Weekes offered soothing and simple advice.

By HILLARY KELLY

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