Shots focussing on anonymous extras playing their parts with an unfortunate but unmissable lack of talent feel more like atmospheric images supposed to create a general sense of misery rather than genuine moments of concern for the lives lost to war. Once the Warsaw ghetto is established, Caro shows as little of it as possible. Depicting the bombing of Warsaw from the zoo makes narrative sense, yet ignoring the human deaths is disturbing to say the least. Caro dismisses the very thing that makes this true story interesting, namely the terrifying situation that Antonina refused to give in to. After a while, even baby rabbits and funny-looking lamas can’t make up for a half-hearted devotion to the reality of resistance.Īntonina’s assuredly heartbreaking uncertainty indeed gets lost in the film’s smoothing out of the horror she witnesses. Yet rather than focusing on the tough moral dilemmas faced by those wanting to resist, the slow pacing and countless shots of cute animals and hardworking zoo employees translate as hesitation and lazy (and often laughable) button-pushing. Yet the promise of showing the heroism of this tender but determined woman when the Nazi invasion occurs in 1939 isn’t kept by a meandering and spineless script.Ĭaro takes her time to first establish the peacefulness of the Zabinskis’ life, then their understandable hesitation to hide their persecuted Jewish friends in their zoo.
Together with her loving husband Jan (Johan Heldenbergh), she runs a picturesque zoo in Warsaw. She’s all colourful dresses and hands-on care for the elephants, lions and other animals. Jessica Chastain accordingly proffers all her natural cuteness and talent (including a convincing-enough Polish accent) to the character of Antonina Zabinski.
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