Review of The Zookeeper's Wife (2017) by Orlando O — 05 Jul 2017

One of the untold heroism that rescued the Jews and kept them for safety in a zoo basement when the Nazi's were invading the country. Antonina (Jessica Chastain) and her husband Dr. Jan (Johan Heldenbergh) were zookeepers of the Warsaw Zoo in Poland. They were open arms to every guest that came to visit. They loved and cared for their animals. When war torn through their country causing chaos, when Jews were forced to leave their homes and transported to camps from the Nazi's. Dr. Jan and Antonina tried rescuing a few people at a time by smuggling them back to their house pretending they are getting scraps and food for the remaining animals they do have. They kept the people safe in their basement until Dr. Jan was able to find a safe house to keep them there. Even, when Germans Zoologists Dr. Lutz (Daniel Bruhl) comes by to visit, hoping they can breed a specific type of bison. Dr. Jan is out, getting fake passports through a bakery to help these people cross without being discovered. Dr. Lutz lurking around the zoo and the helpless Antonina.

What I liked about the film is the story's direction about Antonina and her husband. And their bravery act of saving people from being sent to these concentration camps. They are a loving couple and compassionate towards friends and people and animals. When war is tearing down their home and friends. They are trying to savage what is left of their home. It is a sad emotional journey of seeing these characters going through the darkness of this war. Jessica Chastain is a beautiful talented actress. Her performance was amazing. Johan Heldenbergh, Michael McElhatton (famous in Game of Thrones), and Daniel Bruhl all gave great performances as well. The music composer Harry Gregson-Williams also helped gave a score that delivered this eerie tough times with people being driven away from home. There homes being destroyed and burnt to ashes. It tries to help deliver the emotional impact with the film.

Although, what did not work with the film is the direction could have tried to help deliver a better strong emotional impact. It sets up the dark tone of people being torn away from their homes, seeing kids being lifted on a concentration camp train while they are helpless but to accept their fate on where they are going. The direction was lacking the suspense and thrills to build the momentum. It was also pretty slow and boring in the second act. Where nothing in the plot was progressing at all when Dr. Jan was going through an endless cycle of getting fake passports for the new rescues.

Overall, The Zookeepers Wife is a fair war drama film. Jessican Chastain performance was stunning. The plot is something worth seeing about the heroism of Antonina and her husband using their zoo as a safe haven. The direction lacked suspense and thrills, were the movie felt like a waiting game for the war to be over.