The Zookeeper’s Wife (2017)

Review

127min

Genre:       Fact-based, Drama

Director:    Niki Caro

Cast:         Jessica Chastain, Johan Heldenbergh, Daniel Brühl…and more

Writers:     Angela Workman and Diane Ackerman

-Synopsis-

Based on a remarkable true story and starring Jessica Chastain as the matriarch of a Polish zookeeper family in the late 1940s, who risk their lives and become heroes when they use their zoo to shelter persecuted Jews and undermine the Nazi regime after the Germans begin their occupation of Poland in 1939.

Seventy-two years after one of the deadliest and most all-encompassing conflicts in human history, Hollywood is still finding extraordinary, little-know World War II stories of tragedy and bravery to apply their honed blend of style and drama to. Now Kiwi director Niki Caro (Whale Rider, North Country) applies her expertise with strong and realistic female characters to naturalist Diane Ackerman’s 2007 novel—itself based on the diaries of the real people involved—to give us this unique take on the horrors of the Third Reich, and the humanity which sometimes emerged from it.

‘The Zookeeper’s Wife’ tells the story of the Zabinski family and stars Jessica Chastain as Antonina Zabinski; mother, first lady and caretaker of Warsaw Zoo, along with her zoologist and zoo director husband Dr. Jan Zabinski (Johan Heldenbergh)—a family of animal lovers and experts, who along with their young son Ryszard (Timothy Radford & Val Maloku) maintain this critter haven in the middle of the Polish capital. When their world is thrown into turmoil following Hitler’s invasion of their country, plus German officer/zoologist Lutz Heck’s (Daniel Brühl) effort’s to hijack their life’s work and personal life—the Zabinski’s risk everything to rescue persecuted Jews from the notorious Warsaw ghetto and shelter them, in this extraordinary true story of humanity in the face of a lack thereof.

In terms of a narrative about life under the thumb of the Third Reich and the persecution of the Jews, there’s plenty that’s familiar in this latest drama about that period—but right from the critter-filled opening, stuffed full of animal cuteness, the novelty of ‘The Zookeeper’s Wife’ is clear to be seen. Director Caro and screenwriter Angela Workman adapt the novel’s naturalist roots and focus on the innocent simplistic nature of animals—versus the more duplicitous and complex inclinations of man—targeting the animal lover in most of us by combining creature cuteness with their suffering to tug on our heartstrings.  All of which gives a new dimension to the Nazi atrocities depicted in cinema, before plunging us into the more familiar territory of human suffering caused by Hitler’s demented ideologies.

Caro’s factual period drama is undoubtedly a stylish affair featuring expert production designs and immaculate costumes, which recreate the military and civilian fashion of an era that’s become very familiar in cinema, and it’s all well captured by cinematographer and indie stalwart Andrij Parekh—who also manages to vividly display an array of creatures in this idyllic menagerie, before the dramatic and often solemn Harry Gregson-Williams score then plunges everyone and everything into the darkness of war.

Despite the English dialogue delivered with slightly dubious ‘Polish’ accents, all the performances here are accomplished and Jessica Chastain holds the film together with yet another performance to solidify her already strong reputation as a leading lady—in a role which is much more than the zookeeper’s wife, but instead the brave and empathetic matriarch of this dysfunctional human and animal family, yet still bound by war and the social conventions of the time to be an effective prisoner in her own zoo. However it’s Belgian actor Johan Heldenbergh as Jan Zabinski who ironically steals the show for us in this female-led piece, as the true beating heart of the drama and the story.

By virtue of the subject matter it covers, ‘The Zookeeper’s Wife’ will be a moving and poignant experience for anyone with a shred of empathy, and no doubt the true story is an extraordinary example of humanity in the face of evil, and the subversion of cruelty through acts of compassion—but given the honest and unflinching nature with which Hollywood has been willing to treat the Holocaust and Nazi occupation in more recent years, it’s rather ironic that this animal-heavy piece is rather toothless when it comes to the dramatic stakes.

Despite taking some dramatic license, particularly in its framing and convenient timing of events, ‘The Zookeeper’s Wife’ is largely devoid of any real tension and is not much of a gripping drama considering the subject matter—and it feels like a sanitised 12A (PG-13 in the US) version of events when you consider comparable bold masterpieces like ‘Schindler’s List’ and ‘The Pianist’. When you combine it with some philosophical musings about the savagery of human nature and animal nobility, plus all the creature cuteness involved, the film ultimately sits uncomfortably somewhere between a harrowing historical piece and an overly earnest period drama.

Yet thanks to solid performances all around, expert craftsmanship and an extraordinary true story for inspiration, this is still a relatively moving story of humanism and naturalism in the darkest of hours, and is worth watching for the exposure of the Zabinskis’ story alone—in a neatly packaged little drama which is far less cavalier with the truth than most Hollywood adaptations.

The Bottom Line . . .

Although it may be too sanitised and isn’t quite the gripping and harrowing drama that the story might suggest, and though it might pale in comparison to other deeply moving modern classics about the Holocaust and the cruelty of the Third Reich—‘The Zookeeper’s Wife’ is still an expertly crafted and well executed period drama which pays tribute to an extraordinary family and their remarkable true story. A story of people driven by empathy and humanity in the face of evil and despair . . . and willing to risk everything for it.

Similar films you may like (Home Video)

The Pianist (2002)

Roman Polanski directs an Oscar-winning biographical drama based on the experiences of Wladyslaw Szpilman; the Jewish classical pianist who survived the destruction of the Warsaw ghetto and escaped the trains to Auschwitz, only to struggle for survival while being harboured by fellow Poles during the Nazi occupation of their country.

Directed by Roman Polanski and starring Adrien Brody, Emilia Fox and Thomas Kretschmann among others.

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