It never ceases to amaze me that we’re now more than 70 years removed from World War II and we’re still learning stories of true heroes who fought and challenged the enemy any way they could. Once such hero is Antonina who, along with her husband Jan Zabinski, saved the lives of 300 Jews in Poland during the war. The Zookeeper’s Wife is their story.
We open on a peaceful day in September 1939 in the Warsaw Zoo with director Jan (Johan Heldenburgh) and his wife Antonina running the zoo and caring for all of the animals. At a party, Antonina catches the eye of Dr. Lutz Heck, director of the Berlin Zoo and Adolph Hitler’s zoologist. When the Germans invade Poland, Jan is unsuccessful in getting Antonina and their son out of the country. The zoo has been bombed and many animals are lost. And when the Germans arrive, they seize the zoo, take the prize stock back to Germany and kill the remaining animals.
Jan is allowed to stay as a pig farmer but secretly, he is working with the local underground movement to save his Jewish neighbors. They have been rounded up and herded to the ghetto, which is just one step away from the concentration camps that eventually await them. At tremendous risk, Jan and Antonina work to get as many people out of the ghetto and to safety, with Antonina developing a special bond with a young girl who was brutally raped by two Nazi soldiers. Unfortunately, to help keep their cover and make sure the soldiers leave them alone, Antonina must work with Dr. Heck, who is no longer hiding his salacious intentions. How long will they be able to hide what they’re doing and what will happen if Dr. Heck discovers their secret?
Director Niki Caro has only a handful of films to her credit, with Whale Rider (2002) being her most successful film. With a screenplay adaption from Angela Workman, Caro does an effective job of creating tension as the viewer is often on the edge of their seat during moments of confrontations with the Nazis. While it may not be anything we haven’t necessarily seen before, it is still very gripping. The use of real animals, for the most part, helps set the stage early on for the dark visions of war, which may be hard for some animal lovers to watch. Equally as hard are the horrific scenes of the burning of the Warsaw ghetto. While never becoming gratuitously violent, it is no less disturbing.
Jessica Chastain (The Martian, Miss Sloane) turns in a convincing performance as Antonina, genuinely making the viewer feel her anguish and discomfort during the course of the film. Daniel Bruhl (Captain America: Civil War, Inglourious Basterds) also turns in a good performance as Heck, as we witness a proud and restrained German become unraveled by the final act, symbolic of the downfall of Germany occurring at the same time. Their performances are surrounded by the bleak devastation of war, which stands in stark contrast to the generosity and underlying feeling of hope as the Zabinskis risk so much to save the lives of their Jewish neighbors and friends.
The Zookeeper’s Wife is based on the 2007 novel by Diane Ackerman, who wrote the story based on the unpublished diaries of Antonina. I highly recommend the film adaptation for anyone fascinated with the true stories of one of the darkest times in recent history. While the tale may not necessarily be vastly different from others we have read or seen, The Zookeeper’s Wife is a beautifully made film that displays the honor of doing what’s right in the face of danger and great personal risk.
