The Zookeeper's Wife Theme

Film Essay The Zookeeper's wife, directed by Niki Caro and written by Angela Workman, has a Holocaust-related theme. Antonina Zabinski (Jessica Chastain), Jan Zabinski's (Johan Heldenbergh), the zookeeper’s, wife assists in caring for their zoo and her family. The zoo brings the whole family and town together, and the entertaining animals bring joy to everyone. Conversely, they are to find out that the Germans were going to turn their Polish town and cozy lives upside-down. Antonina's faith to her husband will get tried by the German leader of the group, Lutz Heck (Daniel Brühl), which puts her in certain risqué situations. She and her family obligate themselves to hide their Jewish friends and peers that live in their community in order to …show more content…
She has a kind and gentle nature that is an important trait when providing for all of the animals of the zoo. She is able to use her "Snow-White-like gift” as an advantage to her in caring for all of the people that they are rescuing (O’Malley). It helped her family build a trusting bond with the already frightened Jews they are hiding. When the Germans decided to overpower their town, the zookeeper family came into contact with appalling individuals such as Lutz. Antonina claims, “You can never tell who your enemies are, or who to trust. Maybe that's why I love animals so much. You look in their eyes, and you know exactly what's in their hearts. They're not like people” (The Zookeeper’s Wife). They were relentless in their mission to purge the Jews. In hindsight, courageously, Jan and Antonina's mission to save as many people as they could, decided to play it safe and get on Lutz's good side. They end up giving up a portion of the zoo as breeding grounds for the German's buffalo. Holden reminds the viewers of Antonina's loyalty to her husband being tried by Lutz which makes Jan envious (3). Jan then shows his love for his family and home by partaking in the war against the Germans and nearly