720P,BLURAY
SYNOPSIS
Dr. Jan Żabiński (Johan Heldenbergh) and his wife, Antonina (Jessica Chastain) are the keepers of the Warsaw Zoo (Miejski Ogród Zoologiczny), one of the largest and most prolific zoos in 1930s Europe. In the calm of September 1939, Antonina opens the zoo gates. Hours before the zoo opens for the day, a crowd had already gathered to view the many species on display in the zoo. Jan is the director of the Warsaw Zoo and faces the scornful, yet envious advances of Dr. Lutz Heck (Daniel Brühl), the head of the Berlin Zoo and "Hitler’s zoologist".
On September 1, 1939, Antonina and her son Ryszard (Timothy Radford and later, Val Maloku) are shocked witnesses to the aerial bombardment of Warsaw as German forces storm Poland. The Zoo is not spared; bombs raze the cages and kill many of the animals. As Polish resistance collapses under overwhelming odds, Dr. Heck arrives at the zoo, beseeching Antonia to let him save the "prize" specimens. Antonina reluctantly consents, but then learns that his motives are suspect. With the onset of winter, Heck again appears, this time to slaughter all the remaining caged animals, which he declares is an act of mercy as they would surely die in the cold. Heck, however, takes a certain delight in shooting an eagle himself, then casually telling an aide to have it stuffed.
Warsaw becomes the scene of a monstrous upheaval. Jews are singled out before their stores and shops are looted, and they are eventually herded into the Ghetto. Wearing Star of David armbands, two of the Zabinskis' friends, Maurycy Fraenkel (Iddo Goldberg) and his partner Magda Gross (Efrat Dor) seek a haven not for themselves, but for another friend's notable insect collection. Antonina makes an unusual offer to shelter Magda in an attic closet. Jan and his wife take stock of what defiance of the Nazis would mean, but come to the realization that they can save one life.
With the zoo to be closed permanently, Jan and Antonia seek out Heck, who has now set up headquarters in Warsaw for his groundbreaking research in animal breeding. The Zabinskis make a daring proposal to turn the remaining structures into a pig farm to ultimately provide food for the occupying forces. Intrigued, Heck is also looking for a home for his diabolical experiments on recreating ancient beasts.
The Zabinskis devise an elaborate plan to spirit away Jews from the Ghetto. While trying to rescue a group of Jews, Jan discovers a young girl, Urszula (Shira Haas), who had just been raped by two Nazi guards.
The Żabińskis continue to save more Jews, and are even able to disguise women as Aryan by bleaching their hair. However, in 1942, the Nazis begin deporting Jews out of the Ghetto, and to the death camps. Jan is devastated to see young children being put into cattle cars, leading to the camps.
In 1943, two women that Antonina disguised as Aryans are discovered, arrested, and executed in the middle of the street. After hearing of the incident, Antonina decides that it is too dangerous to disguise people as Aryans. Several months later, after a failed uprising, the Nazis announce that they will be burning the Ghetto. While the Jews in the Żabiński household celebrate Passover, the Nazis burn the Ghetto, killing any remaining Jews inside.
Several months later, Antonina has become pregnant, and gives birth to a baby girl, who Ryszard names Teresa. As Heck takes a liking to Antonina, Jan participates in the Warsaw uprising, in which he is shot in the neck and captured.
Two years later, in January 1945, with Soviet troops advancing, the Nazis begin evacuating Warsaw, and in a last attempt to find out where her husband is being held, Antonina visits Heck, to get his help. However, Heck refuses, and reveals to Antonina that he once heard Ryszard say "Hitler ist kaputt", and blames Antonina for resistance activity. Heck then attacks Antonina, and as he is about to rape her, finds out that she was indeed hiding Jews. She is then able to escape, and warn her friends just in time for them to escape. When Heck arrives with his men, he sees drawings on the walls of yellow stars, and in retaliation, attacks Ryszard, and holds him at gunpoint. Antonina begs him not to kill Ryszard, and Heck relents, leaving the zoo for good. Antonina then sets one of Heck's test subjects free, a young bison, and has him run off into the woods.
Four months after the Nazi surrender, Warsaw begins to be rebuilt. Antonina also begins rebuilding the Zoo, along with Urszula, Magda, Maurycy, and others. Jan then returns home and reunites with Antonina and his children. The Żabińskis are then seen painting Stars of David on all the cages in the zoo.
Not long before the end of the war in Europe, Heck returned to Berlin, only to find his zoo destroyed by Allied bombings. It is also revealed that his efforts to recreate extinct animals failed. The Żabińskis were eventually recognized by Yad V'shem for their righteous acts, and defiance against the Nazis.
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