DVD Review: The Zookeeper's Wife.

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Hide them.

Antonina and Jan Zabinski (Jessica Chastain and Johan Heldenbergh) run the Warsaw Zoo. Their happy existence is ruined by German bombs during World War II. Since most of their animals are relocated, with all the space on their property they begin hiding Jews from the Nazis.

This is an incredible true story. The film doesn't shy away from the horrors of WWII but by the end credits it feels slightly uplifting. It takes a lot of courage to do what the brave people who protected their Jewish friends during this time did. And you always feel the stakes. Especially with Lutz (Daniel Brühl) constantly snooping around and harassing Antonia.

I loved the cast. I don't know how well their Polish accents were but they sounded okay. It was nice to see Michael McElhatton in a small, kind role. He's such a wonderful actor and I'm so used to him as Roose Bolton. It's nice to see him be a decent dude on screen.

The film has a pretty massive flaw in my opinion, but I can't go into it without massive spoilers. I haven't researched it to see if that was truly how everything went down, but if not it seems extremely sort sighted.

Recommended: Yes

Grade: B-

Memorable Quote: "You can never tell who your enemies are, or who to trust. Maybe that's why I love animals so much. You look in their eyes, and you know exactly what's in their hearts. They're not like people." - Antonia

Comments

  1. s.January 3, 2018 at 11:09 AM

    I haven't seen this one yet, but i love the director, she did North Country. This seems like a good movie, Chastain was even here to promote it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamJanuary 3, 2018 at 11:37 AM

      I didn't realize it was the same director who did North Country. I never got around to seeing that.

      Delete
  2. keith71_98January 3, 2018 at 1:18 PM

    I really liked this movie. It made my 11-20 for 2017. I thought Chastain was outstanding. You nail it when you said "You always feel the stakes". So true.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamJanuary 10, 2018 at 8:14 AM

      This somehow ended up in my spam folder. I'm glad you liked this too!

      Delete
  3. thevoid99January 3, 2018 at 3:32 PM

    I have this in my never-ending DVR list as I might see it as I do like Jessica Chastain and a couple of the films that Niki Caro did like North Country and McFarland, USA.

    ReplyDelete
  4. BirgitJanuary 3, 2018 at 9:33 PM

    I agree with that quote so much. This was a difficult film to watch especially at the beginning when the cute camel is done in. I still can’t get that out of my head even though I know the camel I see alive and well, it just made me cry. Look at me, I’m talking More about the animals than the humans. I did try to read up on this more but have forgotten some info and need to reread

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamJanuary 4, 2018 at 6:33 AM

      lol that's perfectly normal. It's sad all around.

      Delete
  5. KatyJanuary 7, 2018 at 7:40 PM

    Nice review! This has been on my to-watch list, and I'm anxious to see what the flaw is since WWII is a big subject I'm a history buff for...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamJanuary 7, 2018 at 10:59 PM

      It might be a real thing, but it was such a massive plot device, I'd be shocked if it were true. I should look it up.

      Delete

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