No matter how many times we hear the story of World War II and The Holocaust it seems like we're still susceptible to forgetting their lessons. But at least filmmakers and novelists around the world tried to warn us to never forget. In our current climate where hate crimes are skyrocketing and a demagogue prepares to ascend to his throne after blaming our nation's problems on immigrants, how painful is it going to be to watch World War II movies?
Oh look here's another one...
Despite Hollywood's insistence on making each quarter of the year a ghetto for a specific type of movie, a few resistant fighters remain for counter programming. So in March we get a historical war drama The Zookeeper's Wife based on the bestseller of the same name starring Jessica Chastain in the title role. Let's do a Yes No Maybe So on the trailer...
YES
- Jessica Chastain is always a plus as are animals. I haven't read the book but the setting is an intriguing and different choice for this type of narrative. One can assume the animals were treated well on the film since Chastain is an animal lover and vegan.
- Apparently we still need these stories told over and over again. Which...foolish me for thinking we had had more than we needed on World War II. [Sigh]
- Loved all the interior shots of the home. So much wallpaper. So I looked up the production designer. It's Suzie Davies who did just impeccable work on Mike Leigh's Mr Turner recently (Oscar nomination)
NO
- "Good morning. Enjoy your day..." not sure what to make of Jessica's accent here. Perhaps accents aren't her gift? Although it's always hard to tell about voice work in the very limited confines of heavily edited trailers
- Can someone please rescue Daniel Brühl from always having to play Nazis? He has to be bored with it by now. He's such a good actor and he can also be warm onscreen but he's stuck in Evil German typecasting now.
MAYBE SO
- Is the zoo setting enough to give this film a different angle and help it feel fresh?
- The film might be interesting to look at if not typically "handsome" like Oscar-hopeful productions. The cinematography is by Andrij Parekh who has tended towards gritter indie fare like Blue Valentine and Half Nelson
- There's really no single MOMENT in this trailer to make it a must see, is there.
Are you a Yes No or a Maybe So here?