[yasr_overall_rating]
“The Zookeeper’s Wife,” tells the account of keepers of the Warsaw Zoo, Antonina, and Jan Zabinski, who helped save hundreds of people and animals during the German invasion.
“The Zookeeper’s Wife” shows the harsh reality of life in Warsaw Poland during the second World War. Jan Zabinski (pronounced Yan, played by Johan Heldenbergh) and his wife Antonina (Jessica Chastain) run the Warsaw Zoo along with their young son, Ryszard (Timothy Radford). Before the war moved into Poland, the happy family was content to care for tigers, camels, and elephants, while raising their young son. When the war becomes imminent, Jan begs his wife to leave their home for safety, but the willful Antonina refuses to leave her beloved zoo out of fear.
The war enters the city in stages. The Jews are treated like pack mules before being forced into captivity in the ghetto. Meanwhile, Bombs drop out of the sky destroying the zoo as Germany claims ownership of Poland. Soldiers in green kill many of the animals as they overtake the property to ensure the animals are out of the way. Fellow friend and zookeeper, Lutz (Daniel Brühl), from Berlin, offers to take the animals left standing to his zoo; he manipulates Antonina’s tender heart for all things furry. His unrequited feelings for Antonina keep him close to her war-torn home.
While not Jewish themselves, Jan and Antonina are good friends with a few Jewish people and both are heartbroken over the treatment of their friends. When Maurycy (Iddo Goldberg) and Magda (Efrat Dor) seek a storage place for precious belongings, Antonina and Jan welcome Magda into hiding in their home. Cautious of the German troops at first, the couple soon finds a method of helping other local Jews from certain death: a pig farm. With the permission of the now military Lutz, the couple uses the zoo property to raise pigs and oxen collecting trash from the Jewish ghetto. Along with food for the pigs, the couple collects people hiding in their trash before working to secure a safe exit from Poland. Before long they have “A human zoo.”
The piano becomes a method of communicating with the Jews living in the zoo basement. At night the music indicates the German routine checks are done for the evening. By day the piano signifies danger and for the people to hide in the tunnels. Lutz is a constant presence and threat to the couple; returning to the farm often to protect his investment in the oxen and also to make his feelings known to Antonina. Lutz’s feelings soon cause a rift in the already struggling couple’s life.
As the years pass, Antonina and Jan help to save the lives of over three hundred people with the aid of a few others disloyal to Hitler’s regime. With the help of the zoo’s loyal caretaker, Jerzyk (played by Michael McElhatton), the family stays safe during the tenuous years while caring for those who put their own lives in harm’s way. Jan fights in the independent army against the Germans, as Warsaw fights to keep their city, and is shot in the fight. Antonina, after giving birth to a baby girl, Teresa, seeks the help of Lutz to find her wounded husband. Previous clues of Jan and Antonina’s work in the fight against Germany causes Lutz to turn on Antonina and her children, forcing them to run for their lives. Antonina rushes to safely remove the Jewish people in her care before seeking safety for herself and her children.
What a powerful film! Antonina’s story is based on a true story (the book written by Diane Ackerman) and a story everyone needs to see. With so much controversy circling belief in the Holocaust, this film not only shows the all-reaching power of Hitler’s regime but reiterates the tragic story of the Jews, which cannot be swept under the rug. Antonina serves as the perfect conduit for empathy and understanding without the gore and focus on the battle. The human nature of love and compassion for are highlighted through several sets of eyes lamenting the suffering of the Jewish people during this terrible time in history.
I had a hard time watching the animals die. This is not to say I did not have a problem watching the humans die, but that part was kept mostly off screen and insinuated. The harshness of the German mindset was highlighted, which was a necessary evil to understand the horrors. I will not be in a rush to see this movie again but believe the story needed to be told. Even thinking about the Holocaust is enough to bring tears to my eyes, which this film often did by the way. Director Niki Caro and writer Angela Workman managed to create a vivid tale without leaving the line of reality.
The beauty of compassion was my favorite part. When times are tough people work together better. Everyone needs to see this story of love and sacrifice at least once, just to understand the difference between life then and life now. No one can really understand what the Holocaust was like now. I appreciate this film’s ability to show the amity without focusing on the fighting. “The Zookeeper’s Wife” is all heart and what a beautiful heart it is.
In theaters Friday, March 31st
