The Zookeeper's Wife - Okay

I should have known what this movie was going to be like. Yes, I knew it was it was about how the couple who owned a zoo in Warsaw aided many Jews to their safety during the first World War. But I didn’t even think about what happened to the animals. My heart was broken in the first fifteen minutes of the film, and it was hard for me to keep paying attention after that. Any time I read a book or watch a movie that has something real or fictional to do with Jewish people during the war, my heart breaks for sure and I just want to go back in time and tell Hitler to shut the eff up because I’m so pissed off that this happened. But when you show me a movie where animals are murdered because Germans back then were so heartless, I am even more livid. I would have been satisfied if the animal deaths ended with the bombing and they went on to helping the Jewish people, but no. It just got more and more horrible.

Okay, now that I’ve gotten that out of my system (I may not have actually gotten in out, I’ll probably be upset for a long time) I’ll get on the the actual movie. I thought the acting was terrific. Jessica Chastain plays the lead, Antonina, the Zookeeper’s Wife. The emotions she had to portray and that accent were wonderful I thought. Johan Heldenbergh plays Jan, the Zookeeper, who has the brilliant idea to funnel Jewish people to their safety right under the noses of the German soldiers who are camped out in the zoo. Daniel Brühl plays Lutz, the German soldier who takes over their zoo and tries to seduce Antonina the entire movie. Brühl must be really good at playing a German soldier, remember him from Inglourious Basterds? He was a not so great person in that movie either, but he is way worse in this movie.

Can I have a rabbit?

I know that this movie is based off a book, which is based off of true events. I’m glad that these stories can be told all these years later and ensuring that there were still good people in the world during those dark years. I’m going to give this film an “okay” rating because it was well acted, the effects were good, and the story (minus the animal killing) was good. It allowed the viewer to feel all the feels from beginning to end. I would not recommend it to everyone, but there are some people I can think of that may enjoy it.

Just a note: don’t be rude when you go to a movie, this experience was probably the worst movie experience I’ve ever had. This in no way affected my rating, but I was definitely irritated by many people around me. 1. Silence your phone, especially when there’s a large scary man telling you to do so. 2. Chew with your mouth closed. That’s gross and annoying. And 3. If you’re going to whisper, actually whisper and try to keep your "awww snaps!" to yourself. Thank you.

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THE CAMEL