The Zookeeper's Wife [Blu-ray/DVD]

Director: Niki Caro, Jamie Patricof, Jeff Abberley, Kim Zubick

Overview

A husband (Johan Heldenbergh) and wife (Jessica Chastain) in Nazi-occupied Poland use their positions as caretakers at the Warsaw Zoo to shepherd Jews out of the country. Based on the non-fiction book of the same name by Diane Ackerman, The Zookeeper's Wife was directed by Niki Caro (Whale Rider).

Product Details

Release Date:	07/04/2017
UPC:	0025192396557
Original Release:	2017
Rating:	PG-13
Source:	UNIVERSAL
Region Code:	1
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Stereo, DTS 5.1-Channel Surround Sound, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround]
Language:	English
Time:	2:06:00

Special Features

Deleted Scenes; The Making of The Zookeeper's Wife; The Zabinski Family

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Jessica Chastain	Antonina Zabinski
Daniel Br?hl	Lutz Heck
Johan Heldenbergh	Jan Zabinski
Michael McElhatton	Jerzyk
Iddo Goldberg	Maurycy Fraenkel
Shira Haas	Urszula
Goran Kostic	Kinszerbaum
Timothy Radford	Ryszard Zabinski (Younger)
Efrat Dor	Magda Gross
Val Maloku	Ryszard Zabinski (Older)
Martha Issov?	Actor
Daniel Ratimorsky	Samuel Kenigswein
Frederick Preston	Miecio Kenigswein,Stefcio Kenigswein
Viktoria Zakharyanova	Actor
Arnost Goldflam	Dr. Janusz Korczak
Marian Mitas	Stefan
Martin Hofmann	Szyon Tenenbaum
Jitka Smutn?	Pietrasia
Waldemar Kobus	Dr. Ziegler
Viktorie Jenickova	Actor
Adira B. Cole Abbett	Teresa Zabinska (9 months old)
Hana Pindurova	Roza's Mother
Magdalena Lamparska	Wanda Englert
Vilma Frantova	Zofia Kossak
Magdalena Sidonova	Janina Rabbe
Ester Kocickova	Eugenia Wasowska
Slavko Sobin	Mr. Keller
Natasa Burger	Roza Anzelowna
Petra Buckova	Wanda Filipowa
Yaz Canli	Secretary
Brian Caspe	German Soldier
Radick Cembrzynski	Polish Soldier
Tommy Kijas	Polish Solider
Daniel Sidon	Young Resistance Fighter
Elaine Grainger	Actor
Martha Issova	Regina Kenigswein
Harry Gregson-Williams	Composer

Technical Credits

Angela Workman

Diane Ackerman

Kim Zubick	Producer
Diane Levine	Producer
Jeff Abberley	Producer
Jamie Patricof	Producer
Angela Workman	Screenwriter
Joanne Sennitt	Executive Producer
Jennifer Monroe	Executive Producer,Producer
Pete Shilaimon	Executive Producer,Producer
Robbie Tollin	Executive Producer,Executive Producer,Executive Producer,Producer,Producer
Julia Blackman	Executive Producer
Marc Butan	Executive Producer,Producer
Kevan Van Thompson	Executive Producer,Producer
Mickey Liddell	Executive Producer,Producer
Anna Behlmer	Sound Effects
Petr Cech?k	Sound Effects
Robert Dufek	Sound Effects
Judah Getz	Sound Effects
Jessica Chastain	Producer,Executive Producer
Raoul Bolognini	Special Effects
Diane Ackerman	Screenwriter
Diane Levin	Producer
Maya Kvetny	Casting
Elaine Grainger	Casting

Scene Index

Disc #1 -- The Zookeeper's Wife
1. Scene 1 [4:55]
2. Scene 2 [9:27]
3. Scene 3 [6:53]
4. Scene 4 [8:32]
5. Scene 5 [5:49]
6. Scene 6 [4:45]
7. Scene 7 [9:20]
8. Scene 8 [4:14]
9. Scene 9 [6:24]
10. Scene 10 [3:16]
11. Scene 11 [2:39]
12. Scene 12 [5:27]
13. Scene 13 [7:56]
14. Scene 14 [5:24]
15. Scene 15 [5:01]
16. Scene 16 [6:29]
17. Scene 17 [2:50]
18. Scene 18 [6:44]
19. Scene 19 [8:58]
20. Scene 20 [6:26]
21. Scene 21 [4:43]

Menu

Disc #1 -- The Zookeeper's Wife
Play
Scenes
Bonus
Deleted Scenes
Play All
Antonina Has An Idea In The Kitchen
Antonina Feeds Hippo
Antonina Dyes Roza's Mother's Hair
Jan Finds Hundreds Leaving The Ghetto
Intersection Massacre
A Knock On The Door - Pancho Is Delivered
The Making Of The Zookeeper's Wife
The Zabinski Family
Setup
Audio
English 5.1
Español 5.1
DVS (Descriptive Video Service)
Subtitles
English SDH*
Español
Français
Subtitles: Off
Previews
Play All
Theory of Everything
The Danish Girl
Hyde Park On Hudson
Loving
Race
Suffragette

Editorial Reviews

It is said that there are two types of evil people in this world: Those who do evil, and those who witness evil being done but do nothing. The Zookeeper's Wife, based on the book of the same name by Diane Ackerman, tells the story of the Zabinskis, a real-life Polish couple who refused to witness evil and do nothing. The Zabinskis rescued and sheltered approximately 300 Jewish people from the Warsaw ghettos during World War II, ultimately saving their lives. The film feels timely, considering the political agitation and general unrest pervasive in today's world. The movie opens in 1939 with a slice-of-life look at the Warsaw Zoo, which Jan (Johan Heldenbergh) and Antonina Zabinski (Jessica Chastain) run together as they raise their son -- and it is a sweet life, almost bordering on saccharine with its lush, colorful scenes of Antonina bidding each animal in the zoo good morning with the air of Disney princess. Things do not stay this idyllic for long, as the dark cloud of the Nazi regime settles over Poland, quickly changing life for everyone. The zoo is bombed as Warsaw submits to a brutal German occupation, and the Zabinskis see their Jewish friends ripped from their lives and thrown into the slums. Choosing to take a stand, they come up with a plan to use their zoo as a pig farm to provide meat to German soldiers. In doing so, they gain access to the ghettos, which allows them to smuggle people out in the garbage they collect for their pigs. Antonina's story is at the forefront of the narrative, as she struggles to maintain the façade of a Nazi collaborator while keeping both her family and her charges safe. There is a woeful lack of historical fiction that sees war from a feminine perspective, and the ever-talented Chastain brings raw, human emotion to her portrayal of this important but often overlooked vantage point. Unfortunately, the film struggles to balance its celebration of its everyday hero and heroine with its depiction of the horrors of the Holocaust. Antonina's tenuous relationship with a Nazi scientist who frequents her zoo (Daniel Brühl) is equally fascinating and repulsive, but the script doesn't delve deep enough into her actual feelings on the matter. Instead, it seems like the movie is too timid to explore this idea, with the result that the relationship remains nebulous and glossed over; it's a waste of the actors' chemistry. That isn't the only aspect of the story that's underdeveloped -- while there are moments of anxiety, heartbreak, and terror, the overall portrait of wartime suffering never quite reaches the level of realism that the film clearly hopes to achieve: It always pulls back just before things get too intense. The Jewish people in the Zabinskis' care are never seen as individuals, which hurts the movie's sense of authenticity and ignores a crucial point-of-view in this story. By not fully committing to its trickier onscreen relationships, the screenplay ends up painting the Holocaust in reductive tropes. The Zookeeper's Wife does provoke thought and emotion, but its message would have landed much more powerfully if it had dug deeper.