Jessica Chastain’s WWII-set The Zookeeper’s Wife is intriguing but ultimately disappoints

REVIEW: Even with the presence of Jessica Chastain, The Zookeeper’s Wife — the latest in a spate of WWII dramas — is ultimately disappointing.

THE ZOOKEEPERS’S WIFE (M)

Director: Niki Caro (Whale Rider)

Starring: Jessica Chastain, Johan Heldenbergh, Michael McElhatton, Daniel Brühl.

Rating: Two-and-a-half stars

Verdict: Finding sanctuary inside a sanctuary

AN initially intriguing, then mildly disappointing Holocaust drama. Been a few of those lately (Alone In Berlin, Denial), hasn’t there?

Based on the well-regarded book by Diane Ackerman, The Zookeeper’s Wife stoically outlines the true story of Antonina Żabiński, a Polish woman who saved the lives of over 300 Jews during World War II.

Together with her husband, Antonina (played by Jessica Chastain) was responsible for maintaining what was left of the Warsaw Zoo after it was badly damaged at the start of the German Occupation.

A move to use the property as a pig farm allows Antonina to concoct a scheme whereby residents of a nearby Jewish ghetto can be smuggled underground, and thereby avoid a certain horrendous fate.

Jessica Chastain as Antonina Żabiński who saved the lives of over 300 Jews in Nazi-occupied Poland.

While the film is capable enough of chronicling the heroism and bravery of the Żabińskis, it does lack the emotional clout that should come with such drastic matters of life and death as those depicted here.

The attraction of exotic animals and the performance of Chastain are to be commended.

Stilted dialogue spoken in a variety of theatrically affected accents does not help prospects in any way. Nor does a subplot concerning Antonina’s calculated involvement with a powerful German officer (Daniel Brühl, who has clearly used up all his bad-will in a type of role he has played far too often).

Jan Żabiński (Johan Heldenbergh) and his wife Antonia (Jessica Chastain) in Nazi-occupied Warsaw during World War II.

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Originally published as Jessica Chastain’s WWII-set The Zookeeper’s Wife is intriguing but ultimately disappoints