Movie #1341 ........................."The Zookeeper's Wife"

Movie #1341 "The Zookeeper's Wife" was a quiet, slow-paced, but emotional film I got to see the other day.  I think I've seen many Holocaust films, but this one was quite different.  Having read the book, I knew the general subject matter (a very heroic Polish family offers safety to the jews in the ghetto  in their underground zoo area once their animals are sent to Germany to populate Hitler's zoo).  But I wasn't prepared for my reaction to seeing the animals shot or abused in the film.  Usually in these types of films, you see a lot of people shot, but in this one, that was at a minimum, but the animals were being negatively affected, and I still found myself in tears at times watching how these animals were being treated.  Jessica Chastain's ease in working with the animals and befriending them, sharing food from her mouth to a bison, petting the baby tigers, helping to deliver a baby elephant all drew me into the film and into her character so much.  This is an  academy award effort here, and it's a shame that the film is so early in the year and will probably be forgotten.  And speaking of acting, I was very impressed with her husband's portrayal, and the young girl he saves from the ghetto from being abused by three soldiers.  And Daniel Bruhl gave a great performance of the complex character of the geneticist interested in the animals for research, who is working his way up to being stationed at Hitler's zoo.  He also is enamored with Chastain whom he shares a passion for animals.  Overall, the film shows heroic actions of some people in desperate times, and I recommend it for showing that theme!  I give it 4 stars out of 5.

'ZOOKEEPER'S WIFE" 2017     Pg-13

After the Nazis invade Poland, Warsaw Zoo caretakers Antonina and Jan Zabinski place themselves in grave danger when they begin collaborating with the Resistance in an effort to save Jews from the horrors of the Warsaw Ghetto.

Cast: Jessica Chastain, Daniel Brühl, Johan Heldenbergh