The Zookeeper’s Wife

[projekktor id=’27557′]

Based on Diane Ackerman’s nonfiction book of the same name, The Zookeeper’s Wife is a historical war drama directed by Niki Caro (McFarland, USA). The film stars Jessica Chastain, Johan Heldenbergh, Michael McElhatton, and Daniel Brühl.

The time is 1939. The place is Poland, homeland of Antonina (Chastain) and her husband, Dr. Jan Żabiński (Heldenbergh). Devoted to each other, the couple thrive as personal and professional partners; the Warsaw Zoo flourishes under Jan’s stewardship and Antonina’s care. With reserves of energy, Antonina rises every day to tend to both her family and their menagerie, as the gates to the majestic zoo open in welcome…until the entrance is slammed shut and the zoo is crippled in an attack as the entire country is invaded by the Germans. Stunned, the couple is forced to report to the Reich’s newly appointed chief zoologist, Lutz Heck (Brühl). Heck envisions a new, selective breeding program for the zoo. Antonina and Jan fight back on their own terms, and covertly begin working with the Resistance – realizing that their zoo’s abandoned animal cages and underground tunnels, originally designed to safeguard animal life, can now secretly safeguard human life. As the couple puts into action plans to save lives out of what has become the Warsaw Ghetto, Antonina places herself and even her children at great risk.

The Zookeeper’s Wife is rated 14A.