At one point she’s referred to as “Eve in her garden,” one of many moments where all subtlty goes out the window. Nearly every other scene sees Chastain nuzzling an animal or cradling one to her chest, turning up her nurturing level to 11. She’s introduced as a female, 1940s Doctor Doolittle, riding her bike alongside camels and resuscitating baby elephants.
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The impetus is there to show the Holocaust through female eyes, though it’s evident Caro and screenwriter Angela Workman aren’t sure how to balance the real-world horrors of the Holocaust with a character who spends her time safely ensconced in a zoo.Īs a character, Antonina is both stimulating and unremarkable. As Jan becomes more aware of what is happening to the Jews in the Warsaw ghetto, he and Antonina decide to start harboring them and ferrying them to safety, putting their own lives at risk.īased on Diane Ackerman’s novel, The Zookeeper’s Wife has a worthwhile premise, especially once you factor in how many Holocaust dramas are told from the male perspective.
When the Nazis invade Poland Antonina’s family are forced to work alongside Lutz Heck (Daniel Bruhl), Hitler’s chief zoologist, in order to keep their home. Though the results never rise above basic Jessica Chastain is consistently wonderful and does a lot to elevate The Zookeeper’s Wife above its simplistic trappings, but is hobbled by a script that harbors her in ignorance.Īntonina Zabinski (Chastain) and her husband Jan (Johan Heldenbergh) live in and run the popular Warsaw Zoo. Director Niki Caro valiantly makes an effort with the sumptuous and heartwarming The Zookeeper’s Wife. The Holocaust is a genre of its own in cinema and with such a wide and varied swath of films already in existence it’s hard for a movie to differentiate itself.
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