Written by: Angela Workman
Starring: Jessica Chastain, Johan Heldenbergh, Daniel Brühl, Michael McElhatton
Rating: [3/5]
Humanitarian acts whether big or small always occur during times of tragedy by individuals who step up and act in a just way even in the face of major adversity. Getting to learn the stories of those who did so much good and have received little recognition makes the exploration very educational and gratifying as seen in The Zookeeper’s Wife. A film that has a good idea and delivers exactly what it needs to even if it does not necessarily excel.
Running a popular zoo in Warsaw, Antonina Żabińska (Jessica Chastain) sees it all come under peril when the Nazis take over the country. While trying to ensure her family survives this terrible circumstance, Antonina decides she will take this opportunity to use her zoo as a haven for Jews facing persecution from the Nazis and accepts the risk that comes with it.
For as much as biopics get received with a groan, they do bring awareness of the valuable history of figures like Antonina who prevail and do some good even if it feels small when compared to others who did something on a much larger scale. The action she took saved the lives of many and displaying exactly how she did it along with everything else makes for quite a stirring tale that deserves to get told even if done so in a rather pedestrian manner. That’s always the risk with these stories and how they eventually come together, but The Zookeeper’s Wife does plenty to justify its existence.
As someone who dedicates her life to animals, Antonina draws a parallel between these creatures and humans and the lack of duplicitousness of the former. Humans can say something and act differently while animals, for the most part, act on instinct showing no confusion on their intentions. A line that certainly sheds light on Antonina as a person but also how she views the world in addition to how it has treated her. In a way, the Nazis make it quite clear what they want to do in the area and in that respect act as animals where we see Antonina, on the other hand, act in a duplicitous manner in order to protect the Jews she harbors even when under the close eye of the Nazis.
For all the good Antonina does, she does suffer quite a bit, especially in the way the Nazis treat her animals. A terrifying display of a lack of humanity from these monsters that surprises absolutely no one. If they wanted to exterminate a whole group of people it comes as no surprise the same would occur with animals they view even below Jews. It makes the presence, of Lutz Heck (Daniel Brühl) all the more intriguing. He enters the film as the head of a zoo himself in Berlin yet acts with a reckless disregard for these animals showing the true character of the movement and what they espouse.
Propelling forward in this narrative we have beats we have seen before in these types of films as Antonina sets up a system to get these Jews to safety and let them know when the coast is clear. With that, we have moments of great tension where we get close calls of the Nazis discovering the presence of the Jews in the zoo. These moments come and go as expected as they bring the thrilling elements the movie has to offer. What the film offers in something more profound does not necessarily exist, which sets a limit to the pure effectiveness of this story but it still contains plenty of merit.
Sporting a decent performance by Jessica Chastain helping this film stay afloat, The Zookeeper’s Wife tells us quite the undertold tale and one that deserves its time in the spotlight. A story about a brave woman standing firm during a time when remaining complicit and following the rules would have done her hell but instead decided she cared too much about the carnage against her fellow humans meant she could not stand idly by. It has every beat you could expect from a story like this centered around World War II and the Nazi occupation of Poland but none of it feels too unimportant to appreciate.
Films with Josh 
