Director: Niki Caro
Stars: Jessica Chastain, Johan Heldenbergh, Daniel Brühl
Three stars
The Zookeeper's Wife stars Johan Heldenbergh and Jessica Chastain as Jan and Antonina Zabinski, a young married couple typical in most ways – apart from their collection of exotic animals.
They are the owners of Warsaw Zoo – which they have the misfortune to open in September 1939, on the eve of the Nazi invasion of Poland.
The zoo is bombed and the best surviving specimens are seized by the ruthless Dr Lutz Heck – played by Daniel Brühl – for his zoo in Berlin. Before the war, he assured the Zabinskis he was “a zoologist, not a politician” – then turns up post-invasion in an SS officer’s uniform.
Aside from losing their animals, the Zabinskis do not suffer too badly under the Nazi occupation. As middle-class Poles and with, in Heck, a “friend” in a high place, their lives go on relatively untroubled.
It is, therefore, testament to the couple – the real-life Zabinskis, on whose story the movie is based – that despite their relative safety under Nazi occupation they took it upon themselves to rescue hundreds of Jews from the Warsaw ghetto.
The film doesn’t put a number on the lives they saved, although Diane Ackerman’s non-fiction book of the same name, upon which the film is based, estimates it to be about 300.
It's a brave director who takes on a film about real-life heroes saving lives during the Holocaust. Inevitably, your film will be compared with classics such as Schindler's List, Life Is Beautiful, and more recent Oscar winners such as Ida and Son of Saul.
For the most part, Caro rises to the challenge, although the film is a slightly emotionless affair.
The clue is in the title – this is very much Chastain’s film. The people she saves, and even her husband, are barely fleshed out, serving largely as tools to show how remarkable Antonina is. Even as German bombers rain fury down on Warsaw, we barely see the planes or the destruction, only Antonina’s reaction to it.
A little more exploration of her character would have been nice – surely no one, however heroic, is as perfect as Antonina is portrayed?
There is an implication, for example, that she might have been a wealthy Russian refugee who fled the Russian Revolution 20 years earlier. This might have offered a fascinating insight on what drew her to the plight of her charges, but this is never developed.
That is not to take anything away from what is, on the whole, a good movie and an impeccable vehicle for Chastain to showcase her talents. But given the subject matter, a more insightful approach to the issues and characters would have made it even better.
cnewbould@thenational.ae
Greatest of All Time
Starring: Vijay, Sneha, Prashanth, Prabhu Deva, Mohan
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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ZIMBABWE V UAE, ODI SERIES
All matches at the Harare Sports Club:
1st ODI, Wednesday - Zimbabwe won by 7 wickets
2nd ODI, Friday, April 12
3rd ODI, Sunday, April 14
4th ODI, Tuesday, April 16
UAE squad: Mohammed Naveed (captain), Rohan Mustafa, Ashfaq Ahmed, Shaiman Anwar, Mohammed Usman, CP Rizwan, Chirag Suri, Mohammed Boota, Ghulam Shabber, Sultan Ahmed, Imran Haider, Amir Hayat, Zahoor Khan, Qadeer Ahmed
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Where to buy art books in the UAE
There are a number of speciality art bookshops in the UAE.
In Dubai, The Lighthouse at Dubai Design District has a wonderfully curated selection of art and design books. Alserkal Avenue runs a pop-up shop at their A4 space, and host the art-book fair Fully Booked during Art Week in March. The Third Line, also in Alserkal Avenue, has a strong book-publishing arm and sells copies at its gallery. Kinokuniya, at Dubai Mall, has some good offerings within its broad selection, and you never know what you will find at the House of Prose in Jumeirah. Finally, all of Gulf Photo Plus’s photo books are available for sale at their show.
In Abu Dhabi, Louvre Abu Dhabi has a beautiful selection of catalogues and art books, and Magrudy’s – across the Emirates, but particularly at their NYU Abu Dhabi site – has a great selection in art, fiction and cultural theory.
In Sharjah, the Sharjah Art Museum sells catalogues and art books at its museum shop, and the Sharjah Art Foundation has a bookshop that offers reads on art, theory and cultural history.
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Fund-raising tips for start-ups
Develop an innovative business concept
Have the ability to differentiate yourself from competitors
Put in place a business continuity plan after Covid-19
Prepare for the worst-case scenario (further lockdowns, long wait for a vaccine, etc.)
Have enough cash to stay afloat for the next 12 to 18 months
Be creative and innovative to reduce expenses
Be prepared to use Covid-19 as an opportunity for your business
* Tips from Jassim Al Marzooqi and Walid Hanna
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ELIO
Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
Rating: 4/5
Honeymoonish
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Cryopreservation: A timeline
- Keyhole surgery under general anaesthetic
- Ovarian tissue surgically removed
- Tissue processed in a high-tech facility
- Tissue re-implanted at a time of the patient’s choosing
- Full hormone production regained within 4-6 months
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SRI LANKA SQUAD
Upul Tharanga (captain), Dinesh Chandimal, Niroshan Dickwella
Lahiru Thirimanne, Kusal Mendis, Milinda Siriwardana
Chamara Kapugedara, Thisara Perera, Seekuge Prasanna
Nuwan Pradeep, Suranga Lakmal, Dushmantha Chameera
Vishwa Fernando, Akila Dananjaya, Jeffrey Vandersay
