SYNOPSICS
The Zookeeper's Wife (2017) is a English,German,Hebrew movie. Niki Caro has directed this movie. Jessica Chastain,Johan Heldenbergh,Daniel Brühl,Timothy Radford are the starring of this movie. It was released in 2017. The Zookeeper's Wife (2017) is considered one of the best Biography,Drama,History,War movie in India and around the world.
As war brews over in 1939 Warsaw, and while life is still running its course, the Germans are gradually making their presence felt, with Adolf Hitler secretly preparing for the invasion of Poland. Under those volatile circumstances, the couple of Jan Zabinski and Antonina Zabinska continue with their daily routine as owners of the Warsaw Zoo; however, their life's work, and the city, will turn to ashes when the Luftwaffe's horrific Stukas begin to hammer the capital. Now, with the zoo liquidated for the war effort, and many of its animals tragically perished, what was once a menagerie, will now serve as a sanctuary, where the pair of veterinarians can hide the persecuted Polish-Jewish people in plain sight. Indeed, that was the dangerous plan of the two altruists, who, regardless of the consequences, refused to wither before the Nazi menace, and sheltered three hundred Jewish men, women, and children right under the noses of the enemy. Will the world remember the zookeeper's wife?
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The Zookeeper's Wife (2017) Reviews
Nazi's are bad, k?
So what we have here is another Nazi's are bad film. Indeed a dozen or more of these types of films are made a year. There has not been any Nazi's since the 40's, we have much more serious current issues at play right now but Nazi's are still the most terrifying threat to humanity. The problem with these films and in some cases documentaries is that it has become self parody. Just like a Doco I saw on Hitler and how he apparently suffered from flatulence. So now we have German soldiers killing zoo animals. Why would professional soldiers, headed by a vegetarian, animal loving Fuhrer want this to happen? The Nazi's were also the first to outlaw vivisection but in this film they are all for it. Some other stuff happens too, we see a virtual remake of Schindler's list, the usual hiding Jewish people thing. But most of all we see a Politically Correct Hollywood make another boring film about Nazi's.
Get rid of these ridiculous English/foreign accents
A film with promising actors and based upon an incredible true story, however didn't fill up to its high expectations, sadly. Something that always troubles me, is feeling the need to speak English with an accent to show that they're actually speaking another language. It's in fact ridiculous, knowing that Johan Heldenbergh is pure Belgian (and actually speaks English with a Flemish/Ghent accent) and Jessica Chastain is pure American (her English/polish accent is just ridiculous). Either you just speak plain English or you make the movie with Polish actors. Besides that, Johan Heldenbergh, the zookeeper, (world-renown in Belgium but his first introduction in a bigger US production), was impeccable & perfectly casted. The film didn't blow me away and was predictable from beginning till the end. Fairly enjoyable for a regular weeknight if you have nothing to do, but will most certainly be forgotten the next day - not anywhere near classic holocaust movies like Schindler's list or The Pianist. Too bad, cause everything was there (especially book & script) to make a much stronger impact.
The "right" elements were there - but it was toxic
I am a fan of WWII history - factual and flights of fancy. And I am an ardent animal lover. And I have found Jessica Chastain a satisfactory, often great! - cast member in movies in the past. So what could go wrong? It's hard to pinpoint, and painful to have to say it, but this movie felt "icky" to watch. I felt as if my psyche had been violated in some way, even "poisoned," if that's not too strong of an analogy. Granted, I didn't "enjoy" Schindler's List, either! But at least it, and other holocaust-ish movies, felt as if they were presenting something useful. Maybe not healing, per se, but some quality of the human narrative that moved us in some way. They felt honest. This one just upset me, and creeped me out, without offering any of what I could call a redemptive quality. If I may be permitted to say, "The Zookeeper's Wife" felt like a prime example of the cinematic criticism of "gratuitous." Gratuitous violence does not equal reality (yes, I know, horrifying violence was WWII's theme). And gratuitous depression and grim horrors do not equal pathos. At least for me. I have no doubt that all the producers, the director, the actors, all are wonderful people in real life. I have no doubt they worked really, really hard on this. And while you may love it (some IMDb voters seem to have), know that at least one prime candidate for an appreciative audience member (me) found it awful, hurtful, and unclean.
Terrible movie, absolute waste of time and money
WARNING, CONTAINS SPOILERS I went in not expecting much and I got exactly what I expected... I would have probably even had a better experience staring at a black screen for two hours, eating my popcorn. This movie lacked pretty much everything a movie needs. To say it was a slow pace would be too much credit, there was no pace at all, it dragged itself on with no direction, nothing happening, utterly boring. So many silly goofs going on, like feeding pigs with garbage from the ghetto... garbage from a ghetto? What garbage, they'd eat everything till the very last scrap. Or another idiotic scene near the end of the movie where Lutz makes Rys lock his mother up, after they just walked through the tunnel... that would take you back to the broken down door in like 1 minute... Why would Lutz even bother at all to find out how many Jews escaped through the zoo, what does it matter at that point? The war was over, all any Nazi would be interested in at that stage was to get the hell out of there. Watching this movie to me was certainly the biggest waste of time and money in several years.
Keeping it PG-13 makes it more powerful emotionally than seeing everything
I enjoyed The Zookeeper's Wife and would recommend it to most audiences. Skillful direction by Niki Caro, excellent sets and costumes, a slightly washed-out look to the cinematography which nonetheless has a full range of color, and a capable cast. The story is based on the actions of the owners of the Warsaw Zoo, who saved the lives of more than three hundred Jews during the Nazi occupation of Poland. Nonetheless, the performance of Jessica Chastain is the single most important factor in the film. Unlike many American actors, she understands that a Polish woman of the 1940s does not look, move, or carry her features like a contemporary American. So fully does Miss Chastain inhabit her character that I never had the sense of an actress making choices. The film is a bit long and a bit slow, like most films today, but not to a damaging extent. I particularly admired the way that the official from the Berlin Zoo who becomes a Nazi officer, well played by Daniel Bruhl, has certain scruples and personal moral standards although he embraces the Nazi philosophy. He's a villain, but not a cardboard villain, and part of the suspense of the film is waiting to see which lines he will cross and which he won't.