Review of The Zookeeper's Wife (2017) by Meydianarizki21 — 18 Oct 2020

.Poorly Handled.

'The Zookeepers Wife' poorly handles a beautiful and inspiring true story. Based upon real life events that took place in Warsaw, Poland during World War II, this film fails to reach it's intended impact on the audience. The atmosphere of the film is misplaced and has an overall tone that doesn't belong. What should have been a tense film showcasing the impact the war had on zookeeper couple Jan and Antonina Zabinska, and how they responded to the atrocity, ends up feeling quote misplaced with an approach that waters-down the struggle the couple would have gone through. The film spends too much time on certain side plots that are not of importance to the narrative, and only divert the audience from the real story that we came for. Despite the poorly adapted narrative and misguided tone, the film fortunately contains several positive elements. In particular, Jessica Chastain's acting is nothing short of superb and is supported by great performances by Daniel Brühl and Shira Haas. The real-life animals used in the film offer a unique viewpoint of the war, and aid the film to be a visual delight. While it may be flawed in many places, 'The Zookeepers Wife' ultimately tells a unique and beautiful story of World War II that is led by a beautiful performance by Jessica Chastain.