The Zookeeper's Wife

“The Zookeeper’s Wife” is a film based on Diana Ackerman’s nonfiction book which recites the story of Jan and Antonina Zabinski, Polish owners and operators of the Warsaw Zoo, and their efforts to save victims of the Holocaust during the Nazi occupation of their country. Directed by Niki Caro (“Whalerider”) with a screenplay written by Angela Workman, the film stars Jessica Chastain whose performance alone is worth the price of admission. Although some have unfairly characterized the movie as “Disney does the Holocaust”, the film nevertheless communicates the trauma and severity of this difficult time in Polish history and how some brave individuals risked everything to protect the lives of their countrymen, regardless of religious or cultural differences. I give the film 3 stars as it so clearly demonstrates that many of the animals that invaded the country were outside of the zoo.

The Sense of an Ending

“The Sense of an Ending” is based on the prize winning novel written by Julian Barnes. Adapted for the screen by Nick Payne and directed by Ritesh Batra, the film boasts a stellar cast headed by Jim Broadbent, Helen Walter, Michelle Dockery, Emily Mortimer and Charlotte Rampling. Unfortunately, even a star studded cast giving wonderful performances cannot save this film from the difficulty the audience experiences as it tries to follow this complicated story told in flashback and present day events. There are just too many characters attempting to go in and out of the lives of the others to make this film easy to comprehend as it weaves its way in and out of the decades it spans. Even the most difficult and lengthy films can be enjoyable to watch and to understand but this one is neither.

Recognizing the tremendous talent one sees on the screen it is difficult to give the film less than a 2 and ½ star rating although the reader should be warned that 2 or 3 cups of regular coffee might be needed to help his or her concentration process.

Keep Quiet

“Keep Quiet” is a documentary directed by Sam Blair and Joseph Martin. It depicts the life of Csanad Szegedi, the founder and leader of the Jobbik party in Hungary which is basically a right wing Nazi-type group spewing anti-semitism and hate and enforcing these ideas with a 2000+ member uniformed group called the Hungarian Guard.

From early childhood through his late 20’s, Mr. Szegedi relishes and loves the hate filled rhetoric he and his group engage in as they intimidate and disrupt the lives of those in the Hungarian Jewish community. At some point, however, Mr.

Szegedi discovers that his maternal grandmother is a Jew and a survivor of the Auschwitz death camp and this causes him to confront and reevaluate all that he had previously believed and pontificated. His  story experiencing both ends of the the bigotry spectrum (i.e. Jew hater to orthodox t Jew) is well told by these creative and talented documentarians,. I give the film 3 stars for a job well done.