The Zookeeper's Wife

The Zookeeper's Wife is a true story about an ordinary woman who did extraordinary things to save countless Jews during the Holocaust.  Historical dramas, particularly those set during World War II, are very appealing to me so I was definitely predisposed to love this film as I walked into the theater last night.  I didn't love it by the time I walked out of the theater.  Antonina Zabinska (Jessica Chastain) and her husband Jan (Johan Heldenbergh) run the Warsaw Zoo on the eve of the German invasion of Poland in 1939.  During the bombing of Warsaw, many of the animals are killed but the Zabinskis do their best to save as many as they can.  The director of the Berlin Zoo, Lutz Heck (Daniel Bruhl), arrives because he wants to save some of the best stock for breeding purposes.  After Antonina reluctantly agrees, Heck transfers the animals he selects but ruthlessly kills the rest, mirroring certain aspects of the Holocaust.  The Zabinskis propose that they keep the zoo open to raise pigs as a food supply and receive permission to collect scraps from the Warsaw ghetto to feed them.  They decide to hide one of their Jewish friends in an underground cage and then decide to help other Jews escape from the ghetto in the garbage truck as they collect the scraps.  They eventually fill the underground cages with as many Jews as they can right under the nose of Lutz as he uses the zoo for his breeding program.  Jan joins the resistance and is wounded and captured during the Warsaw Uprising so when Lutz realizes what has been going on, Antonina evacuates all of the Jews to face him alone.  This movie does so many things very well: it has a compelling story, beautiful production design, and an outstanding performance by Chastain.  However, the action left me feeling somewhat flat.  There is no tension because there is never a sense of peril for the Jews.  The German officers are portrayed as either benign, especially Lutz because he is enamored with Antonina until he turns on her in the final scenes (and even then he takes pity on her), or downright clueless, especially the guards at the ghetto who always seem to be looking away as the Jews climb into the garbage truck.  In fact, I felt more emotionally connected to the animals and the scenes that affected me the most were when they were in peril.  It is a good period drama but I was expecting so much more.   

District Champion (Again)

I know that I am slightly biased but I think that my niece Tashena is absolutely amazing!  The Davis District Track & Field Championships have been held the past few days and, once again, Tashena was the champion in discus.  This is a huge accomplishment because she is only a sophomore!  Her best throw was 115'!  I am so proud of her and I can't wait to see what she does at the State Championship (she qualified at the first meet of the season).

Note:  Tashena was the champion in discus all three years in Jr. High (go here and here).

A United Kingdom

Last night I went to see A United Kingdom and it was such a lovely and inspiring film!  It tells the true story of Seretse Khama (David Oyelowo), the King of Bechuanaland when it was a British protectorate in the 1940s, and Ruth Williams (Rosamund Pike), the woman he met in London while studying law.  Not only is this a touching romance (they fell in love over a shared passion for jazz) but it is also a story of political intrigue.  At first the British government tries to prevent their marriage because South Africa, an important member of the Commonwealth due to their valuable resources needed by Britain, opposes it because of their policy of apartheid.  Later the government tries to remove Seretse as king in a stunning betrayal.  However, the strength of their love wins over Seretse's people as well as Ruth's family and eventually leads to the independence of present-day Botswana.  It is a film which will leave you cheering (and will make you hate the perfidy of Britain's colonial policies).  To be sure, the film is predictable (scenes with Ruth's parents disowning her and British bureaucrats plotting behind closed doors) but I was completely drawn into the love story between Seretse and Ruth.  Oyelowo and Pike give incredibly affecting performances and I had tears in my eyes several times, particularly when the women of Seretse's village sing to Ruth and when Seretse, with tears streaming down his face, gives a powerful speech about unifying Africa.  This film is visually stunning with scenes in London shrouded in fog and scenes in Africa suffused with an orange glow.  It has flaws but the love story is riveting and the message is powerful.

King Charles III at PTC

Imagine that Queen Elizabeth II has died and that, upon his ascension to the throne, King Charles III has plunged the monarchy into a constitutional crisis.  Imagine that William Shakespeare is still alive to write a modern tragedy about the current Royal Family.  Such is the premise of Mike Bartlett's play King Charles III, the current production at PTC.  I was able to see it last night and I think it is a brilliant examination of the role of monarchy in the modern world.  Charles (John Hutton) is a tragic figure, much like King Lear, who is out of touch and easily manipulated by the Prime Minister (Larry Bull) and the opposition leader (J. Todd Adams).  Believing that he should have more than just a ceremonial role in government, Charles refuses to sign the Privacy Act which eventually leads to his dissolution of Parliament.  Prince Harry (John Ford-Dunker), like Prince Hal, yearns for a different life other than the restrictive one as a royal and spends his time clubbing with inappropriate companions.  He is ultimately forced to choose duty over a girlfriend.  Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge (Samantha Eggers) is perhaps the most interesting character, as a sort of Lady Macbeth, who uses the crisis to further her ambition for Prince William (Grant Goodman).  She has a very powerful soliloquy where she bemoans her role as an ornament to the monarchy and vows to wield power when she wears the crown.  Another incredibly powerful scene is when William confronts Charles over his treatment of his mother, Diana (who makes an appearance as a ghost).  The staging is fantastic with a final scene that I still can't get out of my mind.  It is a riveting production and I highly recommend it!  King Charles III runs at PTC until April 8 and tickets may be purchased here.

Life

Last night I went to see the movie Alien Life.  Like the 1979 classic by Ridley Scott, this movie features six crew members who must battle an alien life form in a confined space as it hunts down and kills them one by one.  In the near future, the crew of the International Space Station, including Dr. David Jordan (Jake Gyllenhaal), CDC representative Miranda North (Rebecca Ferguson), engineer Rory Adams (Ryan Reynolds), pilot Sho Murakami (Hiroyuki Sanada), scientist Hugh Derry (Ariyon Bakare) and captain Ekaterina Golovkina (Olga Dihovichnaya), intercepts a probe from Mars and discovers a single cell organism which is proof of life on Mars.  Of course, the organism grows rapidly and turns malevolent and, in a breach of quarantine (never go in and rescue a crew member who is being attacked by an alien!), it gets loose in the space station and begins attacking crew members until there is one left to escape back to Earth.  Sound familiar?  This movie is unbelievably predictable and the only thing that kept me engaged was trying to determine the order in which the crew members would be killed (I was actually surprised by which crew member was killed first).  There is a bit of a twist at the end but I predicted it well before it was revealed.  The scenes with the alien are intense and incredibly graphic.  That is not necessarily a good thing because, if you are least bit squeamish, you may need to turn away.  I think zero-gravity is depicted very well and I like how the claustrophobia of the space station is emphasized.  The characters are pretty well developed, although I felt like Ryan Reynolds was playing an astronaut version of Wade Wilson (lots of swearing).  Overall, it is a pretty good sci-fi thriller but if you want a great one I would recommend watching Alien instead.

Note: I like to be genuinely scared rather than shocked.  Alien scared me while Life shocked me with the manner in which each crew member was killed.