The Zookeeper's Wife

Focus Features | Release Date: March 31, 2017

7.0	USER SCORE Generally favorable reviews based on 83 Ratings

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GreatMartinMar 31, 2017

You have seen "The Zookeeper's Wife" before and you will see it again and, unless you have no heart or feelings for other human beings, you will react to this film as to others of the same genre in the past and future.

We are in Warsaw,You have seen "The Zookeeper's Wife" before and you will see it again and, unless you have no heart or feelings for other human beings, you will react to this film as to others of the same genre in the past and future.

We are in Warsaw, Poland, on the eve of the invasion on the Nazis, their eventual takeover and starting on the road of exterminating the Jewish population. Yes, there is the child in hiding who makes a noise when a Nazi officer is near, the Jew, passing as a Christian with the blond hair dyed, going through a German security guard, the loading of trains to go off to the camps, ask falling on the city as if it was snow, the evil, not to be trusted German officer and every other cliche a movie like this has but remember a cliche has the basis of truth in it.

Where this movie differs is that the couple, who comes up with a plan to save Jews, are the owners of a popular zoo in Warsaw so we see all kinds of scenes with cute tiger cubs, monkeys, camels prancing around the grounds, rabbits, zebras, parrots, bisons, elephants, etc.

Jessica Chastain, as Antonina, and Johan Heldenbergh, as Jan, are the husband that are both equally involved not only the zoo but with what happens. The picture revolves more around the former than the latter for change. Chastain is impressive but many times her accent swallows up her speech but she never fails to be touching when working with the animals especially one harrowing scene near the beginning. Their son is played first by Timothy Radford the first 3 years and then by Val Maloku 1943-1945.

There is a standout performance by Shira Haas as a Jewish teenager who, unfortunately, the screenplay sort of forgets. There is Daniel Bruhl as a Nazi zoologist who promises the couple he will take care of the displaced animals and return them after everything is over though in reality he wants to use them for selective breeding just as doctors did with their Jewish prisoners.

There are a few other characters but none have the chance to show what they can do except Chastain, Heldenbergh, Haas and, of course, the animals and that is the major problem with this movie.

You will react reflexively to many of the scenes but the director Niki Caro and the screenwriter Angela Workman offer too much of a glossy picture of a harrowing time in history. Everything looks pretty including the scenes that make you pull back at what horror human beings can inflict on each other and, yes, animals. More time is given to getting to know the animals than the humans. Somehow the danger all these people lived under is dissipated.

Movies about the Holocaust should be continued to be made and seen but they need to offer more than a 'formula' showing. At the end credits, when you learn that the husband and wife saved more than 300 people and what happened to the couple during and after the war you'll wonder why you didn't feel all this while watching the film.

I recommend "The Zookeeper's Wife" as a film to see what people do to help others in time of need and to not forget the Holocaust or what hate can do to people.… Expand

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SpangleOct 16, 2017

The latest film to depict the heroics and horrors that occurred in the Holocaust, The Zookeeper's Wife is ultimately a mixed bag, but is nonetheless able to capitalize on the inherent power of its story through strong performances and honestThe latest film to depict the heroics and horrors that occurred in the Holocaust, The Zookeeper's Wife is ultimately a mixed bag, but is nonetheless able to capitalize on the inherent power of its story through strong performances and honest emotion. Telling the story of the efforts of the zookeepers at the Warsaw Zoo to hide Jews during the Holocaust, The Zookeeper's Wife is a film that is as tragic as it is inspirational, depicting the actions that led to the couple saving over 300 people. As a moving tale of human sacrifice and survival amidst the horrors of the Holocaust, The Zookeeper's Wife works. However, too often, the film discards important stories or characters in favor of focusing on subplots that carry no weight compared to the horrors they are set against. As a result, it is a film with noble intentions that has a mixed ability to actually accomplish everything it wishes it could.

Through its two-hour story of heroism in the face of great oppression, the film shows many Jewish survivors come through the home of Antonina (Jessica Chastian) and Jan Zabinski (Johan Heldenbergh). Through their time rescuing Jews from the Warsaw Ghetto, they rescue friends and strangers alike. Many times, the people they rescued would stay indefinitely. Other times, they would be there for just one night before being sent to a new location by the resistance. In the course of rescuing Jews and showing the great lengths gone to by the community and the Zabinski's to save these innocent people, the film never actually develops many characters. The closest is Urszula (Shira Haas), a young Jewish girl violently raped by two Nazi soldiers, who becomes like a daughter to Antonina. Her tale is tragic and drives home the barbaric actions of the Nazis, but she is the only one who actually gets developed, beyond a pair of people the Zabinski's were friends with prior to the occupation. Even then, the friends take a backseat to this one girl. Of the other 300 people hidden in the zoo, we see nothing but their faces, never hear their voices, and they become background characters. Without any depth truly provided to those that they rescue, The Zookeeper's Wife rides on the natural emotion of seeing somebody rescued from the Holocaust. This is easy to do, but shows no ambition on the part of the film. It merely sits back and lets the real events do the talking, without providing a voice to those senselessly slaughtered because of hatred.

The film's lack of character development is also matched by a rushed feeling that makes the film feel like a two-hour film that crammed way too much into its runtime. This is exemplified when Antonina is shown as not pregnant in one scene, very pregnant in the next, experiencing labor pains, and then giving birth, all in the span of two minutes. Her pregnancy is not mentioned, beyond her having sex with her husband and then, once she gives birth, the baby is included in two scenes. It is clear that Niki Caro recognized that the birth was not really that pertinent, but since it happened, she had to find a way to work it into the film. However, in the way it is included, it hardly works and only serves to exemplify the way in which the film rushed through too much. Further examples include the process of the Zabinski's procuring Jews from the ghetto or simply the passage of time. As a film that tries to cram seven years into its runtime, The Zookeeper's Wife always feels abbreviated with Caro trying to cover everything she can in telling this story, rather than allowing any particular moment to really breathe.

Much of this cramming and over-reaching is caused by the film's extensive focus on Antonina and her relationship with Nazi zoologist Lutz Heck (Daniel Bruhl). A cruel man who brags about killing animals in his zoo, obsessed with guns, Lutz winds up working for Hitler. Installing a breeding program in Antonina's zoo in an attempt to bring back the extinct aurochs, Lutz begins to come onto Antonina and repeatedly tries to touch her before attempting to rape her later in the film. He is a contemptible person, but feels extra to the plot. This is not a film that needed a villain. It was already one about the Holocaust. The villain should be rather self-explanatory. Yet, here is, hogging screentime to only hit on Antonina and then leave until Caro feels like the film needs him again. Distracting from the real story and consuming screen time, the film seems to suffer under the weight of keeping this character around, while never making him anything but useless.… Expand

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Brent_MarchantApr 8, 2017

An inspiring tale of a courageous couple defying the odds to save persecuted Polish Jews during the height of World War II, a film reminiscent of "Schindler's List" but in a uniquely different setting. However, despite an excellent leadAn inspiring tale of a courageous couple defying the odds to save persecuted Polish Jews during the height of World War II, a film reminiscent of "Schindler's List" but in a uniquely different setting. However, despite an excellent lead performance by Jessica Chastain and the picture's heroic narrative, this offering feels a bit "sanitized" in light of its subject matter. While this is somewhat understandable to appeal to a wider, more commercial audience, it also rings a bit hollow, with much of the action looking as though it's taking place on a movie set and not in real-world conditions. Although by no means a bad film, a bit of a grittier edge would have made this offering feel more authentic and given it the credibility it needs to be taken more seriously.… Expand

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aurora1May 5, 2018

The Zookeeper's Wife avrebbe potuto essere un nuovo, interessante approccio al dramma della Shoa, narrata stavolta dall'ottica di una coppia polacca che riuscì a salvare 300 ebrei nascondendoli in uno zoo da essa gestito nella cittá diThe Zookeeper's Wife avrebbe potuto essere un nuovo, interessante approccio al dramma della Shoa, narrata stavolta dall'ottica di una coppia polacca che riuscì a salvare 300 ebrei nascondendoli in uno zoo da essa gestito nella cittá di Varsavia. Purtroppo, quello che mi sembra mancare nel film diretto da Niki Caro è un certo grado di intensitá nel descrivere i personaggi e le dinamiche che li legano: mi sarebbe piaciuto che la passione, l'attrazione, la repulsione, l'amore, la paura, lo sdegno fossero realmente trasmessi, e non solo indicati. Jessica Chastain è una presenza elegantissima sullo schermo, eppure non riesce a restituire fino in fondo l'animo della signora Żabiński: la sappiamo divisa tra l'amore per il marito e le attenzioni dell'ufficiale nazista che la corteggia (almeno questa è la teoria del film), ma non lo sentiamo davvero. Curiosamente, sono le scene dell'olocausto degli animali a colpire e a rimanere impresse con più forza: l'aquila che cade abbattuta dalle pistole naziste trasmette tutto l'orrore di una morte assurda e atroce, specchio del simile destino abbattutosi sugli esseri umani vittime delle SS. Così come colpiscono le scene in cui la Chastain interagisce con dei cuccioli: quando salva dal soffocamento un piccolo di elefante appena nato, dal quale si precipita lasciando le ipocrisie di una festa borghese e catapultandosi in questo modo nel suo elemento più vero, o quando nutre un baby bisonte porgendogli del cibo con le proprie labbra. Eppure, anche in tutta questa dolcezza c'è una nota stonata: la donna accarezza gli animali più di quanto non accarezzi i bambini che ha salvato, nonostante abbia rischiato la vita per nasconderli; e anche quando scopre che il figlio non è stato ucciso dall'ufficiale tedesco, il suo sollievo appena accennato non è minimamente all'altezza del sentimento reale che una madre proverebbe. Forse questo immane sforzo a trattenersi è stato richiesto dalla regista e non è quindi colpa dell'attrice; ma non ne vediamo davvero la ragione e, invece che dare forza al film, lo indebolisce. Come non rende un buon servizio alla pellicola l'affettatissimo accento polacco richiesto alla Chastain, che si risolve in un estenuante esercizio di stile che distrae ed annoia, invece che coinvolgere: è giusto il caso di ricordare che le persone, quando parlano la propria lingua madre, non parlano con un accento straniero. L'inglese con un accento esotico dovrebbe essere usato soltanto per sottolineare la non appartenenza di una persona ad un certo luogo; avrebbe senso l'accento polacco se a parlare fosse un americano che si trovasse in Polonia, mentre la Zabinski e il marito erano polacchi nella loro patria. A volte, per essere troppo fedeli ad una storia e raccontarla con il maggior numero possibile di dettagli, si rischia di perdere la visione d'insieme e di fallire il senso ultimo del linguaggio, che è la comunicazione, la quale beneficerebbe più della semplicitá che non delle spericolatezze della recitazione sovrastrutturata.… Expand

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