We’ll see this again this summer with Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk (2017).
A perfectly good WWII drama that is harrowingly depressing which will not set the cinematic world alight.CAUTION: There are some light spoilers below.Īmidst today’s sequels, reboots, franchises and comic book movies, it’s always refreshing to see an original movie come down the pike, especially when it is based on true historical events. Can I complain about what was presented instead? No. It would've been different, less generic and perhaps more emotive. Would I have liked the focus to be strictly on the zoo animals? Yes. Daniel Brühl was also captivating as the Nazi zoologist. Jessica Chastain stars as the eponymous character in what is one of her more nuanced performances, but emotionally vulnerable. It's subliminal, and that might be due to the over saturation of this genre. We know where it's going, but the story never informs us. Another synonymous scene would be when Jewish children are carried onto a train. We don't see what happens, but the detail in every scene enables us to imagine the terror that unfolded. She evokes powerful imagery that isn't portrayed in the film, we see a young girl being taken into a tunnel by two Nazi soldiers. Director Niki Caro captures the horror of the holocaust and does not shy away from the brutality of it.
It's bleak, depressing and not an ounce of happiness until the last five minutes.
Soul draining is how I would describe this.
The zoo animals only take precedent during the first fifteen minutes, and then the narrative's focus is purely on the owners, Jews and the Nazi regime. I expected a film about zookeepers and nearby residents saving animals from Nazi capture, boy was I completely wrong. The owners soon start to hide Jewish residents within the zoo in an attempt to save their lives from the Nazi holocaust. A factual fictionalisation of the Warsaw Zoo surviving WWII where both animals and humans are in danger. In saying that though, this is an excellent "story" film to which I was fully immersed. Frustratingly, this is another typical holocaust film and one that will not standout against the packed crowd. Will the world remember the zookeeper's wife? - Nick RiganasĪnother saturated topic, we typically get two or three WWII films a year. Indeed, that was the dangerous plan of the two altruists, who, regardless of the consequences, refused to wither before the Nazi menace, and sheltered three hundred Jewish men, women, and children right under the noses of the enemy. Now, with the zoo liquidated for the war effort, and many of its animals tragically perished, what was once a menagerie, will now serve as a sanctuary, where the pair of veterinarians can hide the persecuted Polish-Jewish people in plain sight.
Under those volatile circumstances, the couple of Jan Zabinski and Antonina Zabinska continue with their daily routine as owners of the Warsaw Zoo however, their life's work, and the city, will turn to ashes when the Luftwaffe's horrific Stukas begin to hammer the capital. As war brews over in 1939 Warsaw, and while life is still running its course, the Germans are gradually making their presence felt, with Adolf Hitler secretly preparing for the invasion of Poland.