Diane Ackerman’s bestselling book of the same name comes alive on the big screen in Niki Caro’s The Zookeeper’s Wife. The storey rotates around the zookeepers Jan and Antonina abiski who rescued 300 Jews from the ghettos in Poland during World War II.
The movie unfolds with scenes just before World War II commences. Antonina is lovingly gazing at her son sleeping beside lion cubs. Then we see her riding through the zoo in a bicycle the next morning, greeting the employees as well as its animals. This is how her everyday life unfolds among the animals that are pretty much part of the family for her.
In the days to come, the abiskis continue their operations at the Warsaw Zoo while the horrors of World War II get worse. The air raids kill several of the zoo’s animals, Jews are ghettoised and the Nazis overtake the abiskis’ property. Some of the zoo’s inhabitants are saved by moving them to Lutz Heck’s zoo in Berlin but the rest have to be ‘liquidated’ for the sake of the war.
When the time comes to remove all Jews from Poland, Jan and Antonina, first offer their friend Magda shelter, but start saving more people by hiding them in the animal cages below the house. Soon they start a human smuggling campaign, sheltering them and try to send them off to safety right under the eyes of the Nazis.
Antonina’s humane qualities are portrayed even before we come across her plan to rescue Jews. She works tirelessly in the midst of danger to give life to a baby elephant in the zoo. This seems like a sign which is foretelling the viewers what to expect from the courageous woman who would stop at nothing to engage in worthy deeds.
Though she has to face her share of horrors, wondering what has happened to her beloved husband, forcing herself to woo the Nazi leader and being terrorized that her son would have to suffer for her deeds, Antonina’s kindness is rewarded when she and her children return to their home after a war is over. Not only do the Jews that they have rescued help them build up their home and life again but the finale of the movie shows that she has not lost Jan after all. He stumbles back to the zoo to be united with his wife and children much to their surprise and joy.
Caro has stayed loyal to Ackerman’s book with little deviation. She manages to bring out the horrors of the war from the pages of the book onto the screen. This is just an insight to what could really be taking place beyond the little town because mass killings have been done to ‘cleanse’ the society during that era.
One of the most heartbreaking scenes in the movie is watching the Nazis shooting the remaining zoo animals. The shooting of the mischievous looking camel in particular tugs at our heart strings because we have witnessed the fellow out scampering like a little dog behind Antonina’s bicycle.
This is a tale of true heroes and their efforts to save countless lives without thinking of their own. Though efforts and actions have been vividly sketched out the director has failed to bring out much about the personalities of the characters. Thus when you reach the end of the movie you find yourself no closer to Antonina than when you first set eyes on her.
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