The Zookeeper’s Wife (2017)

Directed by Niki Caro. Starring Jessica Chastain, Daniel Brühl, Johan Heldenbergh, Iddo Goldberg, Michael McElhatton, Shira Haas, Efrat Dor, Val Maloku, Martha Issová. (PG-13)

An interesting story deserving of a better movie, adapted by Angela Workman from Diane Ackerman’s non-fiction book, about Warsaw zookeeper Jan Żabiński (Heldenbergh) and his wife Antonina (Chastain) who use their abandoned zoo as a pig farm for Nazis on the surface, a hiding place for escaping Jews underneath. Most of the best and most harrowing scenes occur early on (animal lovers, be warned), and there are a handful of fascinating informational details that set it slightly apart from other Holocaust dramas, but the clichés pile high after a while and the film gets completely lost by the concluding segments. The PG-13 is a hard sell for this kind of punishing, sorrowful material, neutering harsh truths almost to the point of insult. Chastain gives it her all, but stale declarations and a dodgy accent defeat her efforts; Brühl’s sinister Nazi doctor with eyes for the zookeeper’s wife is straight out of central casting, and it was a mistake to suggest that his flirting might have actually been weakening her resolve. Admirably, all of the beautiful animals seen on screen are real.

47/100