The Zookeeper's Wife

The 2017 The Zookeeper's Wife is the best film to watch in all times I have seen it in theaters when it came out 5 years ago I seen it with my dad and my step mom. We really enjoyed the movie that it brought tears to our eyes. I would like to give I shout out to the cast and crew that did very hard work to this film. The dedication it took. I really recommend on watching it if you have it seen it before or if you have seen it I recommend on watching it again it is the best movie ever. The actors/actresses. Did I fantastic job.

The movie is set the 2 world war. This war drama was very good to watch.

"The Zookeeper's Wife" is based on the lives of Antonina and Jan Zabinski, keepers of the Warsaw Zoo, during the German occupation of Poland during World War II. I class this movie in the same league as "Sophie Scholl: The Final Days" and "It's A Beautiful Life". These are movies which give viewers credit for having a brain as evidenced by a lack of gratuitous violence, blood, gore, and killing.

We don't need to see animals being blown up or girls being raped to know these things happened and were horrible. I don't find graphic images of such things "entertaining" anyway so I appreciated the lack of shock and horror. Instead the writers and director effectively allude to the horror without abusing me, the viewer. Some will say the movie is a sanitized view of WWII and they would be right. But it didn't diminish the impact of the story, which is the entire point of the film.

The story is one of kindness, bravery, and resilience in the face of Nazi evil. It is simply told in a linear fashion. The movie is well filmed and well acted. As entertainment goes it's good. As far as "message", it's as deep as the viewer wants it to be. I found myself thinking, "What would I do in a similar situation?" And if I find myself asking myself that question rather than turning away I call that successful story-telling. A good movie doesn't need to beat up the audience to drive home it's point.

So, mostly I just wanted to provide a review applauding the restraint of the movie maker. For too long I've had little choice in movies I'd want to watch since so many of them feature explosions, gunplay, graphic scenes of murder and rape, gratuitous use of obscenity, profanity, and vulgarity, and rarely give me credit for having any kind of discernment as they beat me over the head with some heavy-handed "message" usually about something with which I completely disagree. "The Zookeeper's Wife" doesn't employ any of these tired, ugly devices. I didn't once feel manipulated. It's not a perfect movie but it was entertaining and left me with plenty to ponder and talk about with others.

Greetings from Lithuania.

"Zookepers Wife" (2017) is not a great movie about WW2 ir Holocaust, or even a great movie at all. But it is efficient and well made enough that I could mildly recommend it. Based on true events it tells a story worth to tell, maybe even more worth a better movie. But on the other hand not all movie can be "Schindler's List" or "Pianist" and come even close - this is one is not in the same league or comes even close. At running time 1 h 55 min it does drag here and there, some dialogs were predictable and too melodramatic. But still what it does it does well enough to check this one once if you are in a mood for descent WW2 survival story.

Outstanding effort by everyone involved. True story -- one of heroes we didn't know even existed. The acting from the leads and support cast and direction give life to a wonderful story. Should say Academy Award winner, Golden Globe award winner, People's Choice award winner. Oh well - Hollyweird politics.

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.