Ever so often we are offered a sobering film that wakes us up and forces us to look at our lives (problems and all), and realize we have it made considering what unfolds on the silver screen. We've seen many: "The Color Purple", "Schindler's List", "Amistad", "12 Years a Slave", "The Pianist" and the like to mention a handful. So, that time comes again in the form of "The Zookeeper's Wife".
Poland, summer of 1939. All is well at the Warsaw Zoo. Caretakers, Antonina and her husband Jan Zabinski (Jessica Chastain and Johan Heldenbergh) are enjoying the reaping of their zoo. Antonina loves her animals and they are happy. Poland, September 1, 1939. Germany invades Poland with a vengeance bombing several areas, including parts of the zoo.
This true story tells of one working wife and mother who became a hero to hundreds of Jews and animals during that invasion and throughout World War II. Antonina and her husband Jan covertly helped the Resistance--out of their Warsaw zoo. One of Antonina's colleagues, zoologist, Lutz Heck (Daniel Bruhl) is forced to join the Reich and is appointed their chief zoologist. He then is sent to the Warsaw Zoo to collect the best specimen of animals for the Reich to protect them, or so he says. He basically starts running the zoo with an iron fist, so Antonina gets on his good side and offers to raise pigs for meat for the men. He agrees and then Antonina and Jan begin their plot. This is a true cat-and-mouse game.
Others to round out the cast are Timothy Radford as Ryszard Zabinski (Younger), Antonina and Jan's son, Efrat Dor as Magda Gross, Iddo Goldberg as Maurycy Fraenkel, Shira Haas as Urszurla, Michael McElhatton as Jerzyk, Goran Kostic as Mr. Kinszerbaum, Val Maloku as Ryszard Zabinski (Older), Martha Issova as Regina Kenigswein, Daniel Ratimorsky as Samuel Kenigswein, Frederick Preston as Miecio Kenigswein and Viktoria Zakharyanova as Stephania Kenigswein.
This was emotionally and compassionately directed by Niki Caro ("Memory & Desire" '98, "Whale Rider" '02, "North Country" '05, "A Heavenly Vintage" '09, "McFarland, USA" '15) plus TV and shorts. The pathos and the amount of subtle passion she was able to extract out of her actors, especially Chastain was perfection. However, by her very resume, one can see this. It was equally well written by Angela Workman ("War Bride" '01, "Snow Flower and the Secret Fan" '11) based on the book by the same name by Diane Ackerman. Even though this writer doesn't have a ton of experience, the continuity, and the flow of the script was spot on. She has as many as four other projects in the works--three of which are in preproduction, so it will be interesting to see how those films are executed. The cast in this was truly well performed, especially Chastain, Heldenbergh and Bruhl. Chastain could be looking at a nod come Oscar time. This story certainly speaks to the heart in that if we, as a society, could treat each other to more the positive as much as treat each to the negative, we would be able to solve so many more of our problems.
If you are a war buff, this will be right down your alley, but even if you're not, this is not as much a war film as it is a commentary on the human psyche and condition societally. If it shows us anything, it shows us how much we are in imperative need to reach out to one another a lot more than we do.
Out of 4 Stars: 4 Rated: PG-13 127mins.
No comments:
Post a Comment