The Zookeeper's Wife

Niki Caro's new film, "The Zookeeper's Wife," begins in a very syrupy cornball fashion as the titular character, Antonina Zabinski (Jessica Chastain), rides her bike through the zoo she runs, and greets all the animals by name while enjoying the gorgeous sunny day. It's an opening that could have been excised from some silly family-friendly film from the '60s as Harry Gregson-Williams frivolous score blares and cinematographer Andrij Parekh shoots the heroine in a loving, carefree style. Alas, this prologue is a deliberate ruse because as soon as the sequence is over the music grows grim, the visuals darken and the screen displays the words, "Warsaw, Poland. Summer, 1939." So much for "Mrs. Doctor Doolittle!"

A few more moments into the narrative we are privy to a party of dignitaries who look down on Antonina (a class thing?), that is until she risks her life to revive a newly born baby elephant, while the mama anxiously tries to swat her aside. One of those most impressed is Lutz Heck (Daniel Br�hl), Hitler's favorite zoologist (no really, that's how he's described!) who takes an immediate liking to Antonina.

Based on the book by Diane Ackerman, "The Zookeeper's Wife" depicts the astonishing true story of Antonina and her husband Jan (Jonah Heldenbergh) who operated the Warsaw Zoo during the Nazi occupation of Poland and put their lives on the line to hide many Jews right there on the property, under the noses of the Germans. They also took part in a dangerous (but effective) effort to smuggle Jews out of Poland, saving close to 300 lives in the process.

The Zabinskis were a brave and clever couple who, after their zoo was bombed and most of the animals slaughtered, managed to come up with plan to remain on their property and feed the hungry soldiers while providing a sanctuary for those who were being hunted and sent east.

One of the keen ways the Zabinskis continuously got away with the subterfuge is via Antonina taking advantage of Heck's crush on her and returning the flirtation when necessary, which infuriated Jan.

I have no idea what the real relationship was between the two but the film would have been far more intriguing if the teasing had been truly reciprocated, alas, not in a film about WWII heroes that wants to reach a mass audience.

And that's the biggest problem with "The Zookeeper's Wife." It is often too safe and sanitized (even the trash used to cover the Jews to smuggle them out of the ghetto looks more like papier-m�ch� than actual garbage). And the characters are written in a very black and white manner. A little more nuance and messiness (because I'm guessing Nazi occupation must have been very messy) would have produced a truly remarkable film. Instead we get a good film with a remarkable central performance.

Chastain, in a role that Meryl Streep might have played a few decades ago, is impressively immersive and understated. Even when she's forced to speak some of the more hackneyed dialogue, she makes it sound kosher. And her face speaks volumes. It feels wrong that she's only been Oscar-nominated twice ("The Help," "Zero Dark Thirty") since her work is always so rich and beguiling. Her Antonina is a mother and wife first. A mother to her son -- but also to all the animals in the zoo, as well as the people she is able to hide in her basement. The performance is deliberately unsentimental despite the fact that the script (by Angela Workman) too often leans on the side of the weepy and gushy.

The actress is to be applauded for taking on strong female parts that may not always be likeable in the traditional sense ("Miss Sloane" is another recent and awesome example) but are infinitely more interesting and compelling and have something to say about the times we live in. Like Jane Fonda in the 1970s, she is forging her own path as a film actor/producer whose work doesn't just entertain; it provokes, inspires and shakes things the fuck up!

Heldenbergh, so good in "The Broken Circle Breakdown," is quite affecting here, doing his best as a husband and as a citizen living in a world that has gone to hell.

Br�hl has the difficult task of playing the seemingly-well-meaning Nazi who will show his true lunatic colors later in the story, but does it so superbly you can almost forgive how obvious an arc it is -- especially when there's a twist to the obviousness (that is even more predictable). And, yes, I am being deliberately opaque so as not to give too much away (even though you can probably already guess -- there I go again!)

The decision to have Polish and German characters speak with those respective accents is to be applauded. It is more palpable for American audiences. The old Hollywood way would have been to force everyone to speak with British accents (or cast actors who could) since that sounds more prestigious. It would have been a mistake. And having Chastain use an American accent would pull you right out of the time and place. So besides having everyone speak in Polish and German and using subtitles (still anathema to feeble U.S. sensibilities), the right choice was made.

Director Caro ("Whale Rider," "North Country") does a decent job in presentation but certain powerful scenes prove just what the film could have been had she rejected schmaltz and embraced grit.

Still, "The Zookeeper's Wife" tells a true story of valiance and daring that is inspirational. And we need that now more than ever.