fri 29/03/2024

Storyville: Pablo's Hippos, BBC Four | reviews, news & interviews

Storyville: Pablo's Hippos, BBC Four

Storyville: Pablo's Hippos, BBC Four

Odd, original documentary about the infamous drug baron's private zoo

Colombian security forces hunted down Pepe, the hippo who once belonged to drug baron Pablo Escobar

It’s not so much the children of mad celebs I feel sorry for as their animals. The private zoo stuffed with exotic, non-indigenous wildlife is a sure sign of money, power and hubris run riot. The tigers and chimps at the Neverland ranch became powerful symbols of Michael Jackson’s dislocation. Similarly, last night's Storyville told how an abandoned brood of pet hippos have come to define the worst excesses of the late Colombian drug baron Pablo Escobar.

It’s not so much the children of mad celebs I feel sorry for as their animals. The private zoo stuffed with exotic, non-indigenous wildlife is a sure sign of money, power and hubris run riot. The tigers and chimps at the Neverland ranch became powerful symbols of Michael Jackson’s dislocation. Similarly, last night's Storyville told how an abandoned brood of pet hippos have come to define the worst excesses of the late Colombian drug baron Pablo Escobar.

Escobar looked very much like a real-life Scarface, had Tony Montana been dressed by BHS and played by Steve Coogan’s Tony Ferrino rather than Al Pacino

Share this article

Add comment

newsletter

Get a weekly digest of our critical highlights in your inbox each Thursday!

Simply enter your email address in the box below

View previous newsletters