The Zookeeper's Wife (2017) * * *

Directed by:  Niki Caro

Starring:  Jessica Chastain, Daniel Bruhl, Johan Heldenburgh

Director Niki Caro's previous films include Whale Rider (2003) and North Country (2005), two movies with strong female leads who take on a male-dominated culture and succeed in staking their claim.     The Zookeeper's Wife also possesses a strong female lead, who along with her husband, hides hundreds of Jewish fugitives from the Warsaw ghetto during World War II.    Along with Schindler's List and The Pianist, Warsaw is ground zero for depictions of the worst Nazi atrocities against humanity.     Stories like The Zookeeper's Wife have intrinsic suspense and drama.    This one does not have the emotional power of Schindler's List and The Pianist (few movies do), but it is still an absorbing example of ordinary people attempting to outwit and outmaneuver the Nazi war machine.

The Zookeeper's Wife opens in the summer of 1939, in which we witness a daily example of the idyllic lives of the Warsaw Zoo's keeper Jan Zabinski (Heldenburgh) and his Russian-born wife Antonina (Chastain).   Antonina is such an animal lover, she sleeps with cubs and even a skunk.    She connects with the zoo's animals, including an ostrich who accompanies her on her morning rounds.   The Germans invaded Poland on September 1, 1939 and ended the Zabinskis' blissful existence.     German zoologist Lutz Heck (Bruhl) soon assumes control of the zoo while blindly carrying out the Fuhrer's wishes for the animals. 

Jan witnesses the treatment, rounding up, and execution of Jews in Warsaw and decides they must do something.    He decides to hide Jewish children in the garbage which he picks up in the ghetto to feed his animals.     Soon, a sympathetic Jewish administrator catches on to the plot and assists with fake work permits which allows Jan to move freely about the ghetto and rescue the Jews in plain sight.     Antonina hides the refugees in her basement and in some cases smuggles them outside the zoo to an Underground Railroad while Nazi guards roam the area.    She feigns romantic interest in Heck to keep him occupied, which makes Jan jealous after a while.    But, such emotions must take a back seat to the bigger picture, which is saving lives.     Jan soon takes a more direct approach to battling Nazis by enlisting in the Polish underground movement.

I admit I was first distracted by Chastain's accent, but since the rest of the actors have accents, it would've been odd for her not to have one.    It reminds me of JFK, in which Kevin Costner adopted a New Awlins accent even though Jim Garrison hailed from Iowa and didn't speak with a Southern drawl in order to maintain continuity.     Chastain shows indefatigable sweetness and strength in the title role, but in reality Jan takes on possibly a greater risk than even his wife.     But since the movie (and the novel on which it is based) is called The Zookeeper's Wife, we see the events from Antonina's view and that is that.

Daniel Bruhl is beginning to corner the market on playing weasel bureaucrats who can easily be duped because he has the hots for a woman.    He played in eerily similar role in Inglourious Basterds (2009), in which he played a Nazi war hero whose lust for a movie theater owner spells doom for the Nazis.     Bruhl plays the role well, since we do hope Antonina is able to fool him long enough to avoid discovery.    It is amazing to learn the Zabinskis were able to keep this façade up for the duration of the war.  

The Zookeeper's Wife relies on its built-in historical perspective to maintain our interest.    We know the Nazis are pure evil and we relish the opportunity to see them denied some of potential victims.    Six million Jews alone were exterminated in World War II.     If not for the actions of the Zabinskis or an Oskar Schindler, plus countless other unsung heroes, that number would have been considerably higher.