The horrors of the Holocaust have been brought to the screen several times. Almost all of them leave some sort of an impact — if not because of the movie, because of its weighty and moving subject. But going down in history as the most mellow film to have ever been made in Holocaust cinema history is The Zookeeper’s Wife.
While the fate of more than 6 million Jews hangs in the balance during the course of six long years, the characters of The Zookeeper’s Wife paint an almost cutesy picture of bravery, compassion and strength.
The film follows the true story of a Polish couple (played by Johan Heldenbergh and a radiant Jessica Chastain) who rescued around 300 Jews from the Warsaw ghetto by giving them shelter in the zoo that they run together. And while the premise is pregnant with possibilities of tense cliffhangers and emotionally-charged drama, the execution is shockingly placid and, more often than not, embarrassing.
Another important character is Lutz Heck, played by Daniel Bruhl (Inglourious Basterds, Rush). He’s Hitler’s main zoologist and appears soon after Poland’s invasion to take away the couple’s prize animals. A sub-narrative sees a ‘will they, won’t they’ scenario develop between Lutz and Antonina, as he tries to seduce her, while they work with the animals together. The air is thick with complex emotions and moral implications, but none of these are addressed.
The emotional pay offs of the film come in unexpected places and have nothing to do with the dangerous situation they’re all living in. The only time the viewer is made to feel anything at all is when the camera follows the eponymous zookeeper’s wife: ethereally beautiful and motherly to her animal charges.
Director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) also chooses to wash his scenes with a sunny brush, snatching away the shadows of the brutalities of war. Even when bombs are raining down from the skies, we’re shown dying animals to resuscitate interest in the film: a baby camel shot point blank, a polar bear drenched in blood, a majestic bison drawing its last breath.
Next door, in the Warsaw ghetto, we’re told unmentionable atrocities are being committed upon the Jews, but we don’t see any of it. While we may know the names of the elephant couple at the zoo, the Jews largely go nameless, their stories glossed over. Also, Heldenbergh and Chastain struggle with their accents, giving sombre moments a comical effect.
Watch this movie for Chastain’s regal performance and her cuddly critters. But if you’re looking for moving cinema about the Warsaw ghetto, might we suggest The Pianist?
