The Zookeeper's Wife (2017)

Gripping story with well-crafted characters

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

The actors were excellent. The movie was based on true facts , so yes , there was ugliness . One of the reviewers wrote "there have not been nazis since the 40's", well, I disagree. There are nazis still around , in America, and still filled with hate. Learn from this movie. We must not let history be repeated.

Firstly, I'm quite shocked by the negative reviews. This film stands up next to classics, in particular Schindler's List, to depict the horror of the Jewish suffering and violation in Eastern Europe in WW2. It is not so graphic but shows the lengths non-Jewish people went to, to save their fellow human beings. Intensely poignant and heartbreaking at times. Yes it's not all about zoo animals but that's not really the point. A tale worth telling, and very well told.

GRADE: B-THE FILM IS RECOMMENDED.The Zookeeper 's Wife tells the important story of the Nazi Occupation in Poland and trivializes it with heavy handed sentimentality. The film tells the true story (with way too much melodrama) of Antonina and Jan Zabinski, zookeepers at the Warsaw Zoo, who decide to save some wild animals and many Jews from the Nazis during 1940 until 1945. The obvious symbolism of the newly caged Jews hidden within the walls of the zoo is not easily missed and probably the most subtle reference in this entire film. (Historically, the Zabinskis rescued nearly 300 Jews from their certain deaths.)The Zookeeper's Wife is a well made film, but the subject matter of the Holocaust and its systematic destruction of the Jewish people deserves a more realistic treatment. Although director Niki Caro earnestly tries to tell the story with serious intent, she overstates the obvious throughout the film. The simplistic screenplay by Angela Workman depicts Good vs. Evil in the broadest of terms. To her credit, Ms. Caro creates some powerful images and doesn't shy away from the ugly atrocities upon the Polish people but, the characters, in general, lack depth and rarely seem authentic. The actors play their roles with conviction. Jessica Chastain tackles the part of Antonina and she is a believable presence. As her stoic husband, Johan Heldenbergh is quite compelling. Daniel Bruhl balances his stock character, Lutz Heck, a Nazi sympathizer and animal lover, with a refreshing degree of nuance. He makes one believe in this conflicted man.However, too often, facts make way for fiction in this film adaptation for the sake of dramatic conflict. Though far from accurate, Lutz's infatuation with Antonina becomes a central issue of the story. Also a fine young actress named Shira Haas is cast as Urzula, a totally fictional character much maligned by the Nazi soldiers. While the actress is very effective in her supporting turn, one wishes the filmmakers stayed true to more historic accounts of real events.The Zookeeper's Wife has much to admire, if one can accept the oversimplifications and soap opera plotting presented as truth.

Antonina (Jessica Chastain) and Jan Zabinski run the Warsaw Zoo. She's a hands on zookeeper. When the war starts, the zoo is not spared. Nazi zoologist Lutz Heck convinces Antonina to transfer her prized animals to Berlin. The Zabinskis try to befriend Heck and convinces him to allow them to raise pigs in the zoo. This allows Jan access to the ghetto which he uses to save some 300 Jews right under Heck's nose.This is a solid Holocaust drama. It's not new but still very much worth telling. There are some heart strings pulled. Sometimes like the little kids is too much. I would still make a couple of changes. The accented English needs to be reduced if not eliminated all together. It's just silly to have characters speak English but in an accent. Chastain is doing too much accent. Everybody should speak in a neutral manner. The second change is the title. It is bland and weak. They could call it a Human Zoo and that would be much better. I can overlook most of that and there is a compelling story underneath.