O Jardim da Esperança

I can’t help myself but rate this film with five stars. After watching it, I came to realize what an incredibly powerful experience this film was. The Zookeeper’s Wife is not an easy movie at all, and I assume that not everyone is able to process it.Every time I am getting ready to watch a film telling a story from the Second World War, I am shocked by what the Nazis (and also the Russians) did not only on the battlefields, but also outside them. When people are dying, you still get used to it in the movies, because in similar movies that’s what happens daily. However, when animals bite the dust, it’s really tough and I have to admit that there was possibly no way how the creators could have shot the bombing of the Warsaw Zoo more precisely. I almost couldn’t believe it when I saw how Niki Caro made the exhibition center in Prague into a beautiful Warsaw Zoo. In some places, I was even pleased by the obviously Prague motifs. And when the Zoo was bombed by the Nazis, all that was left was a crater, which was really hard for the then owners to come to terms with.I have to admit that Jessica Chastain and Johan Heldenbergh played their parts perfectly and the number of Czech actors in this film also made me really happy. I am extremely glad that the Americans again (previously it was in the movie Anthropoid) offered Czech actors and actresses a few supporting roles. And they were a great fit. I utterly enjoyed their roles. Especially Arnošt Goldflam and Martin Hofmann excelled. So The Zookeeper's Wife is a huge surprise for me in all respects and I have a feeling that I will have to visit Warsaw as soon as possible. The creators shocked with a story that no one had filmed before, and they again took the war ordeals to a new level in films. For some people, that’s good, for others it’s bad. Anyway, it is good to know about stories like this and learn from them! (31/03/2017)

A war film for women, accessible, emotionally relatable, and gets under the skin with the idyll of working with animals and a zoo rather than the hell of war, at least in the first few minutes, which is also where the most emotions are squeezed out of the viewer. You can see this was made by a woman, there is a family charm and a specific atmosphere, which I would guess accurately to the fact that the creator this time was quite rarely of the opposite sex. This is reflected in the softened portrayal of the suffering in the ghettos, or the action scenes, which are very few and not worth much. If it weren't for the excellent cast that draws attention to themselves and the aforementioned family feel, it probably wouldn't be as memorable, as the story's execution has its flaws, especially the handling of the time frame and the rather trivial, at the heart of the matter, denouement. The animals arise far more emotions than the hell of war and the issues it deals with, i.e. where the zoo is supposed to play only the middle and second fiddle. (26/06/2017)

Such a powerful story, which actually took place during World War II, deserved a much deeper treatment that would stay with you for a long time. As it is, it’s just a film that you appreciate at first, but within a few days, it simply fades from your mind. I have to commend the performances of the lead actors, which were absolutely top-notch, with nothing to criticize about them. Additionally, the beautifully depicted zoo setting with breathtakingly filmed scenes with animals deserves praise. But that’s about all that’s positive in this film. The story felt incredibly shallow, never really going into depth, only touching on things and then leaving them. I believe that it all could have happened because history is full of almost miraculous events like this, but it was presented to the audience in a way that made it impossible to believe under any circumstances. The hiding from the Germans seemed more comical than realistic, and I didn’t understand the actions of the German soldiers, which in key moments didn’t make any sense. Maybe that’s how it all happened, but it was put into the film in a way that simply wasn’t believable. This could have been a masterpiece like Schindler’s List, but that film was more heartfelt and meticulously crafted. It wasn’t bad, it had strong moments, but overall, I wasn’t blown away. I give it 68%. (23/09/2017)

I thought I'd already seen many of the scenes somewhere (and they were better), and the fates of the human characters didn't really interest me much as those of the animals. The Zookeeper's Wife is an ambitious film, but the result is (in almost a Czech TV way) unsuccessful - you look forward to it, you watch it despite not being very happy with it, and at the end you tell yourself it wasn't bad, but it could have been better. Even Jessica Chastain didn't entice me too much this time. (31/03/2019)

Thanks to the fact that the environment is quite close to me, as I have animals and I'm fond of zoology, although I've never worked there, the film simply appealed to me. Moreover, the scenes with animals are really well-done, and the interaction is very good. The story is not bad, but you kind of expect something similar when you save the Jews. (04/07/2017)