Review: The Zookeeper’s Wife (2017)

4 Responses to Review: The Zookeeper’s Wife (2017)

1. Stevie says:

   March 29, 2017 at 6:18 pm

   //Meanwhile, back at the zoo…// Bahaha!

   Too bad the story wasn’t fully realized. Seems like it would make a phenomenal movie. I love Jessica Chastain but there’s no excuse for not nailing a good accent these days, with so many consultants available. I wonder what went wrong?

   Reply
   • sheila says:

     March 30, 2017 at 7:07 am

     I don’t know – maybe it seemed okay to everyone? In the bubble of the set, it seemed to work?

     It’s a weird choice anyway – because the real-life people wouldn’t be speaking English with a Polish accent. They’d be speaking Polish. The guy playing her husband is Flemish. There were other Polish actors in the film – but at some point, why not just have her speak in her regular voice? Her awkward attempt added nothing to the film. Even she seemed shy with it – which is why I think she spoke in barely a whisper.

     also I really disliked the addition of sexual violence – it felt extremely manipulative. Not that people weren’t being raped by Nazis, etc. – of course they were. But that was not part of this story.

     Reply
     • Stevie says:

       March 30, 2017 at 7:42 am

       That makes sense. Good point about the whole accent idea anyway, of course they wouldn’t be speaking English with Polish accents. It’s a funny movie contrivance, now that you mention it.

       Another contrivance I detest is the idea that the past doesn’t have colors, that New York in the 20s, for example, was sepia. I was watching Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, and I became quite disgruntled. It was a symphony of brown. Brooklyn did a better job of conveying the past without muddying the colors. It’s such a limited conceit. OK, I get it, photos from the era were sepia. Ugh.

       Reply
       • sheila says:

         April 2, 2017 at 11:15 am

         It’s definitely a challenge to find the right color palette for the past. I liked Spielberg saying that he shot Schindler’s List in black and white because we know that event through the news reels, and color doesn’t feel right for a Holocaust story – I tend to think that black and white is a better look for conveying pure emotion and realism than color – which distracts, or – maybe because it’s LITERAL, it doesn’t open up other spaces within it. Black and white is inherently not literal. So it can be romantic or horrifying or dream-like.

         Brooklyn’s color palette was very good. It wasn’t too nostalgic, or golden-hued. The same thing with Carol – incredible color palette. Art Deco colors. Exquisite.

         Reply

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