He says once the war is over, they’ll return them all. This is in agreement with a Nazi soldier (Daniel Brühl), who claims to first and foremost be a zoologist. Worried about the survival of their exotic animals, they arrange to send them to Germany. Soon, bombs drop over their zoo, an act that kills many of their animals. She refuses, and they carry on the daily operation of their lives until tragedy strikes. As the seasons change and they enter the 1940s, an increase in the Nazi presence inspires her husband to suggest she and their son leave. They operate one of Warsaw’s most prestigious zoos and live on the grounds where they house the animals. Jan Żabiński (Johan Heldenbergh), Antonina’s family is a happy one. A mother of one and devoted wife to her husband, Dr. The story follows Antonina Żabiński (Jessica Chastain), a woman living in a world on the cusp of WWII in 1939, Warsaw Poland. RELATED | Woman in Gold Film Review – An Emotional Drama Based on Inspiring True Events A sweeping story that may take some creative liberties, but is one of the most compelling dramas I’ve seen in a while. A recent film in the genre is The Zookeeper’s Wife. In other words, a Hollywood version of history which makes for an entertaining spectacle.
They’re based in fact but they also include the dramatic impacts cinematic creativity allows for. A silly plot device.There’s a reason why films inspired by true events in history are so powerful. Really, that almost ruined the film for me. From the moment the first Jewish girl picked up the chalk I thought, ‘is this really happening?’ Perhaps Ackerman’s book or Antonina Zabinski’s ‘People and Animals’ would be a better, more accurate, and less sensational account of this wonderful story. Although they occasionally mark the date in the war with subtitles, there’s no real sense of time having passed with our characters, aside from the dramatic change in actor with the Zabinski’s son Ryszard, whom was actually really difficult to recognise as being the same character.Īnother major flaw in the film was the fact that the Zabinski’s would allow such incriminating writing on their walls in the basement. There’s an overall lack of appropriate timing here. Chastain strives to bring forward the profound real-life character of Antonina, but is never given adequate time or emotional tension to really get into character.
There’s barely time to even mourn them, which may have been the plan from the get-go, but this story could have really benefited from seeing the war from the animal’s perspective – the destruction of an innocence not yet seen in these kinds of films.įrom that moment on, there never seems to be a scene that really stands out for its emotional intensity. The fact that this film, which is based on the book by Diane Ackerman, was set around a zoo made for an interesting perspective on the war, but rather than establishing a relationship with the animals, they’re killed off in a heartbeat shortly after their introduction. Most of the animals are killed either by bombs or shot at the hands of Nazi zoologist Lutz Heck (Daniel Bruhl), and it’s rather disappointing to see them go so early.
You get a real sense of family and camaraderie in the zoo, and look forward to getting to know the zookeepers and of course, the animals. The Zookeeper’s Wife, another addition to the holocaust genre that had potential to be fiercely original and thought-provoking, but just ends up being another Anthropoid.īased on the true story of Antonina Zabinski (Jessica Chastain) and her husband Jan (Johan Heldenbergh) who used their Warsaw zoo as a sanctuary to hide Jews from the local ghetto in Nazi occupied Poland.įilmed in Prague, The Zookeeper’s Wife had a promising start and director Niki Caro ( Whale Rider) promptly introduces the zoo along with its colourful inhabitants through Antonina’s morning bike ride.