The Zookeeper's Wife

The Zookeeper's Wife is a true story about an ordinary woman who did extraordinary things to save countless Jews during the Holocaust.  Historical dramas, particularly those set during World War II, are very appealing to me so I was definitely predisposed to love this film as I walked into the theater last night.  I didn't love it by the time I walked out of the theater.  Antonina Zabinska (Jessica Chastain) and her husband Jan (Johan Heldenbergh) run the Warsaw Zoo on the eve of the German invasion of Poland in 1939.  During the bombing of Warsaw, many of the animals are killed but the Zabinskis do their best to save as many as they can.  The director of the Berlin Zoo, Lutz Heck (Daniel Bruhl), arrives because he wants to save some of the best stock for breeding purposes.  After Antonina reluctantly agrees, Heck transfers the animals he selects but ruthlessly kills the rest, mirroring certain aspects of the Holocaust.  The Zabinskis propose that they keep the zoo open to raise pigs as a food supply and receive permission to collect scraps from the Warsaw ghetto to feed them.  They decide to hide one of their Jewish friends in an underground cage and then decide to help other Jews escape from the ghetto in the garbage truck as they collect the scraps.  They eventually fill the underground cages with as many Jews as they can right under the nose of Lutz as he uses the zoo for his breeding program.  Jan joins the resistance and is wounded and captured during the Warsaw Uprising so when Lutz realizes what has been going on, Antonina evacuates all of the Jews to face him alone.  This movie does so many things very well: it has a compelling story, beautiful production design, and an outstanding performance by Chastain.  However, the action left me feeling somewhat flat.  There is no tension because there is never a sense of peril for the Jews.  The German officers are portrayed as either benign, especially Lutz because he is enamored with Antonina until he turns on her in the final scenes (and even then he takes pity on her), or downright clueless, especially the guards at the ghetto who always seem to be looking away as the Jews climb into the garbage truck.  In fact, I felt more emotionally connected to the animals and the scenes that affected me the most were when they were in peril.  It is a good period drama but I was expecting so much more.