The Zookeeper

Featuring one of Sam Neill's finest performances, this is an incredibly moving war drama about the human tragedy that is military oppression. Set in a zoo in the Balkans during a bombing siege, the film is gritty and realistic as well as poetically allegorical, showing the effects of war on both man and beast.

When a young boy and his mother come seeking shelter from the fascist paramilitaries rounding up all those who are not "patriots" (featuring a fantastic supporting performance by Ulrik Thomsen as their leader), Sam Neill's Zookeeper finds himself forced to come to terms with the mess he's made of his own life.

Why has this film not been widely distributed? Anyone who liked The Piano will love this! The audience is waiting!

Sam Neill's "The Zookeeper" follows the story of one man who's life is thrown into chaos as a brutal civil war overtakes his zoo. Gina McKee is excellent as a woman struggling to make sense of her changing world. A tender love story in the most unlikely surroundings. I cried a lot.

Screenplay writer Matthew Bishop and co-writer/director Ralph Ziman's independently produced 'The Zookeeper' is unfairly, mostly unknown. It features above-average production values and an unusual but interesting performance by Sam Neil. Neil plays an ex-communist party member who has denounced the party and hidden himself away as an attendant in an unspecified Eastern European Zoo. Filmed on location in the Czech Republic, it tells a story that will have all too often unfolded within many war-torn European communities - where communist troops arrive and exert their control.

The emotionally challenged Zookeeper tends his animal charges alone - while attempting to remain neutral of the war raging around his unique boundaries. This won't be easy as there are others also wanting to escape the outside trauma - these come in the form of a young boy and one of his parents. The internationally sourced budget includes many well-executed scenes involving explosions and it's all expertly captured on film by prize-winning Polish cinematographer Piotr Kuklar.

There's also an effective music score by Nikolaj Egelund, supplying a haunting soundscape within the eerie shut-down zoological grounds. Popular American wildlife trainer Steve Martin (Water For Elephants '11) acted as head trainer for all the zoo animals. Acclaimed Indian actor Om Puri (Ghost and the Darkness) also appears as the vet.

The Beyond DVD offers good image and sound - this is a film deserving of better public recognition.

THE ZOOKEEPER was released in 2001 and is just now becoming available On Demand and in DVD. It is a harrowing, harshly realistic story both well written - by Matthew Bishop and writer/director Ralph Ziman - atmospherically captured by cinematographer Piotr Kukla, scored with intensity by Nikolaj Egelund - and acted with great skill by Sam Neill and his costars. It is a difficult story to share but one that is so well created that it deserves very wide exposure.

The story takes place in the present somewhere in Eastern Europe. Jonah Ludovic (Sam Neill) is a man living alone whose life as an ex-communist is bordered by his simple existence of writing strangely gentle and eloquent poetry in his journal, and maintaining his meager existence by being the Zookeeper at the municipal zoo. On this morning he hears the beginnings of a civil war: the sounds of gunfire and shelling and glimpses of fire startle him and he runs through the checkpoints to his zoo. At the zoo gates he encounters all of the workers running away to safety, leaving only Ludovic and the zoo's veterinarian (Om Puri) to care for the caged animals. Ludovic elects to stay at the zoo despite warning from the local warlord Yeltsov (Marek Vasut) and Dragov (Ulrich Thomsen), the vile sociopathic captain in charge of searching the for deserters and malcontents. Ludovic gathers his courage and states that the zoo is off limits to everyone, keeping his zoo as a sanctuary for his animals.

But out of the terrifying burning of the village comes a young boy Zioig (Javor Loznica) who seeks shelter. Ludovic at first refuses outsiders but eventually allows Zioig shelter, seeing that the boy loves animals. Together they feed the animals their rations and care for the sick ones. Zioig finds his mother, the newly widowed Anika (Gina McKee) who is disguised as a man to prevent being abused by the troops. There are similarities between Anika and Ludovic and they and the boy bond. Anika discovers Ludovic's journals and sees that this isolated, time bruised man is gentle at heart and as they begin to find each other the war explodes and the zoo is burned and all are left with how to cope with the destructive disaster of war. Can one survive without relinquishing principles and caring for living beings? The audience is left to make that decision.

Sam Neill does a masterful job creating a lonely man whose life has been inalterably changed before the story begins and allows us to see the transformation or softening of a victim of a war torn country. Gina McKee gives her finest performance to date and the acting of Om Puri, Ulrich Thomsen and Javor Loznica is exemplary. This is a very powerful film, one that deserves wide attention - especially now....

Grady Harp

This follows Ludovic, a former Communist who tries to protect the animals in a zoo in Eastern Europe, in a time of conflict, until the U.N. forces arrive. He tries to ignore the proximity and behavior of an armed group of nationalists, until he is confronted by a young boy. This has three excellent actors, all from different countries, Neill, Ulrich and Puri. Every performance is magnificent. Granted, English is the only language spoken, and accents aren't necessarily spot-on, but that can be forgiven. This is very strong, suspenseful and exciting, and I was caught completely off-guard several places. It captures the chaos and uncertainty of the situation absolutely perfectly. Quite dramatic. The writing is good, and it develops rather smoothly. Pacing is fitting. Cinematography and editing are great. The DVD has two featurettes, a regular making-of, and one that deals with an actual keeper, in Sarajevo, whose interview is translated vocally into American. Both are well-done and worth the time. This has relatively infrequent moderate to harsh cussing, as well as violence and disturbing content. I recommend this to anyone who watches films about the way war affects the civilians. 8/10