Film
The Zookeeper’s Wife
- Director
- Niki Caro
- Certificate
- 12A
- Running Time
- 127 mins
Jessica Chastain tries on a Polish accent for size in this Holocaust movie with cute critters from Niki Caro, Kiwi director of Whale Rider. It’s based on the true story of Antonia and Jan Zabinski who ran the Warsaw Zoo when the Nazis invaded and went on to support the Resistance by stashing Jews on the premises while striving to ensure the welfare of their beasts.
US reviews of this one were decidedly mixed, with many critics finding it plodding, manipulative and rather sanitised. The business of inviting audiences to coo over cute animals also proved problematic for some. As Variety‘s reviewer noted: “The Zookeeper’s Wife has the unfortunate failing of rendering its human drama less interesting than what happens to the animals.”
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