The movie poster for The Zookeeper’s Wife, starring Jessica Chastain, Johan Heldenbergh, and Daniel Brühl, summarizes the plot of this poignant film perfectly . . .
“They gave all they had to save all they could.”
The movie, based on the best selling novel The Zookeeper’s Wife: A War Story, written by Diane Ackerman, is based on a true story about Antonina Żabiński. Set in Poland, Ackerman’s novel tells the riveting tale of how Antonina and her husband, Dr. Jan Żabiński, reacted when the Nazis invaded their city, where Jan served as the director of the Warsaw Zoo.
Disappointed that I hadn’t gotten around to reading Ackerman’s book yet, I was still very eager to see this film. There’s just something about the Nazi invasion of Europe that I find so unbelievably intriguing. To me, that time period, of course, brought enormous heartache and incomprehensible atrocities, but it also brought with it a seemingly unending list of unsung heroes. As the Nazis began their brutal overtake of its neighboring countries and began forcefully removing Jews from their homes, some people, understandably scared, stood by and watched. They did nothing. Others, who were equally scared, had the opposite reaction, risking their own safety to help those in the most desperate of need. It is the stories of these heroes that fuel my belief that the human spirit is enduring.
The movie starts out with a typical day at the Warsaw Zoo. The Żabiński family, consisting of Jan, Antonina, and their young son, live at the zoo, and love all the animals as much as they love each other. Then September 1, 1939 arrives, bringing with it the Nazi invasion of Poland. The Warsaw Zoo is not immune to the Nazis’ brutality, and the Żabińskis find themselves heartbroken as their picture perfect world is suddenly shattered.
Recognizing that some of their own friends are about to be forced into the Warsaw Ghetto, together Jan and Antonina decide that they will hide people at their zoo; it’s the least they can do. Without ruining any details of the movie, I will simply share that the dangers they face to ensure others’ safety and well-being is downright remarkable. My friend Melissa, who attended the movie with me, grabbed my arm at one point in the film, and said, “This is so stressful!”
The acting was superb, and the tender moments in which Jessica Chastain’s character is seen taking care of the animals are simply beautiful. For me personally, the movie definitely brought to light that people weren’t the only ones devastated by the Nazis; so many animals suffered unnecessarily at their hands too. I was brought to tears several times during the scenes involving the destruction of the Żabińskis’ once thriving zoo.
To add to the gut-wrenching tale, the Żabińskis also face incredible danger at the hands of a zoologist turned Nazi, Lutz Heck, played by Daniel Brühl. Heck’s interest in the Warsaw Zoo extends beyond the animals there, and Antonina finds herself trying to ward off his advances in such a way that won’t anger Heck. With each unwelcome visit Heck makes, Antonina fears for the safety of those she hides in her zoo, and worries about Jan, who’s become part of the Resistance.
At the end of the movie, Melissa shared that she was glad this story was told. She compared it to Schindler’s List in terms of how it brought to light the incredible efforts made by non-Jewish people to save Jewish people. (We discussed that this movie was much different than Schindler’s List though because there are no concentration camp scenes in The Zookeeper’s Wife, and overall this film isn’t nearly as violent.) Melissa said, “Even though I knew what was going to happen, those last ten minutes really hit me. It’s definitely a story that needed to be told. I admire how they went above and beyond, risking their lives to save others. It was so interesting.”
While I obviously wasn’t alive during this time period, I’d like to believe in my heart that I wouldn’t have been content to stand on the sideline as a witness to tragedy, that I would have instead acted like Antonina and Jan. Learning about their heroism serves as another reminder to me that no act of kindness is ever wasted, and that reaching out to help others is always the right answer. At the very end of the movie, I found myself tearing up yet again as I read the epilogue.
Movie times: click here
Genre: Biography, Drama, History
Director: Niki Caro
Actors: Jessica Chastain, Johan Heldenbergh, Daniel Brühl
Rating: PG-13 for thematic elements, disturbing images, violence, brief sexuality, nudity and smoking
Running Time: 2 hours 7 minutes
