March 31, 2017
The Zookeeper's Wife is a 2017 American war drama film directed by Niki Caro and written by Angela Workman, based on the 2007 non-fiction book by Diane Ackerman. The film tells the true story of how Jan and Antonina Żabiński rescued hundreds of Polish Jews from the Germans by hiding them in their Warsaw zoo during World War II. It stars Jessica Chastain, Johan Heldenbergh, Daniel Brühl and Michael McElhatton.
The Zookeeper's Wife had its world premiere on 8 March 2017 in Warsaw, Poland, the location of the story, followed by its US premiere at the Cinequest Film Festival in San Jose, California, on 12 March 2017; it was released in the United States on 31 March 2017, by Focus Features, and by Universal Pictures International in the United Kingdom on 21 April 2017. The film grossed $26.2 million on a $20 million budget.
Storyline
Doctor Jan Żabiński is director of the Warsaw Zoo, one of Europe's largest, assisted by his wife, Antonina. On 1 September 1939, the bombardment of Warsaw begins. Antonina and her son Ryszard survive the German and Russian invasion of Poland and Warsaw is occupied by the Germans. Doctor Lutz Heck, head of the Berlin Zoo, Adolf Hitler's chief zoologist and Jan's professional rival, visits the zoo in Jan's absence. Offering to house their prized animals in Berlin until after the war, he returns with soldiers to shoot the others. He becomes infatuated with Antonina.
Warsaw's Jews are forced into the Warsaw Ghetto and the Żabińskis' Jewish friends, Maurycy Fraenkel and Magda Gross, seek a safe place for their friend Szymon Tenenbaum's insect collection. Jan and Antonina use the zoo to hide Magda and the others. They propose Heck turn the now abandoned zoo into a pig farm, to feed the occupying forces, hoping to sneak people out of the Ghetto. Heck agrees, wanting a new site for experiments in recreating aurochs as a symbol of the Reich.
When Jan collects garbage in the Ghetto, he conceals people in the trucks for transport to the zoo, so the Polish resistance (the Home Army) can get them to safehouses throughout the country. The Żabińskis hide Jews in the zoo's cages, tunnels, and their own house. Antonina plays the piano at night to signal it is safe to come out of hiding, and by day if they must hide. When Jan rescues Urszula, a young girl raped by German soldiers, Antonina takes a particular interest in her, treating her as she would a frightened animal, until she emerges to join other "guests" in the Zabinskis' home.
In 1942, Germans begin transporting Jews to death camps. Jan, forced to load children into the cattle cars, tries to convince Janusz Korczak, head of the Jewish children's orphanage, to escape with him, but he refuses to abandon the children. Jan also becomes aware of Heck's obvious feelings for his wife, which strains his relationship with her.
In 1943, two women rescued by Jan and disguised as Aryans by Antonina are discovered and executed outside their boarding house. After the failed uprising, Germans burn down the Ghetto on Hitler's birthday, also the first night of Passover while the hidden Jews mournfully celebrate a secret Passover Seder.
Jan reconciles with Antonina before departing to join the Warsaw Uprising and she gives birth to a baby girl, Teresa. Jan is shot and captured, presumed dead. Heck's attraction to Antonina intensifies, and she struggles to fend him off while safeguarding the hidden Jews. Visiting the house unexpectedly, Heck questions Ryzard unsuccessfully about his parents' whereabouts. In growing suspicion and rage, he pins a Nazi cross to the boy's shirt and goads him to say "Heil Hitler." As he leaves, Ryszard cries out "Hitler ist kaput!".
Warsaw's evacuation begins in January 1945. Antonina seeks Heck's help to locate the missing Jan. When asked what he will get in return, she begins to undress but confesses he disgusts her. With suspicions fully aroused, Heck calls for his car to take him to the zoo. Antonina races home and evacuates her guests just as Heck arrives. Magda takes baby Teresa with her, and Antonia conceals Ryszard when he insists on staying.
Heck enters the house in a fury and discovers the basement drawings: Stars of David, dates, and guests drawn with animal faces. He uncovers Ryszard and catches him after a brief chase. Locking Antonina in a cage, he drags the boy out of sight. When a shot rings out, she collapses in grief. A moment later, Heck walks back to his car, leaving the zoo for good. Ryszard returns to her side, unharmed. The two join the march out of Warsaw.
Warsaw began rebuilding four months after the Nazi surrender. Antonina and the children return to the damaged zoo, along with Jerzyk, their loyal zookeeper. Jan returns home from a prison camp. They paint Stars of David on all the cages in the zoo.
A postscript announces that the Żabińskis saved 300 Jews. Heck's zoo in Berlin was destroyed by Allied bombings, and his aurochs experiments were a failure. The Żabińskis were recognized by Israel (Yad Vashem) for their righteous acts and defiance against the Germans. They rebuilt the present day Warsaw Zoo.
Sound Effects Used
- Hollywoodedge, Baby Crying Slowly PE144001
- Hollywoodedge, Eagle Bald Chirps Cal AT082601
- Hollywoodedge, Elephant Trumpeting PE024801
- Sound Ideas, HUMAN, BABY - CRYING