The Zookeeper

Intriguing, well made, movie with pretty incredible animal footage. However, two things would have made it much better. One, more details on the background of the Sam Neil character. What made him the way he was? What in his background made him so private and initially unfriendly? Not well developed.

Also, the decision on how the movie ended with an unexpected loss was very perplexing. Didn't make sense or explained how it happened. No one was around! The direction the movie makers decided to go was a poor one.

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

'The Zookeeper' tells a harrowing and moving tale of Ludovic, an ex-communist now zookeeper, who chooses to stay back at war torn Czech Republic in order to take care of the animals. He is regularly visited and harassed by militants (who have already taken Ludovic's only companion, a vet, into their custody) that interrupt his solitude. Suddenly he encounters a young boy and then not much time later, his armed mother shows up to seek refuge. Protecting them would ensure risking his own life. During this ordeal, the three, though at times conflicted, manage to find some solace in taking care of the animals while experiencing constant fear for their own lives and the sadness in losing some of the animals due to the ice cold weather.

Made on a decent budget, the zoo setting is well constructed and the actors' interaction with the animals feels genuine. The director manages to draw the viewer into the story and engage them. While we do care about the characters we also worry about the poor animals who already spent their whole lives in captivity and now during the war there is no escape for them. We are comforted to see the three protagonists do their best to keep them safe but the death scenes are heartbreaking. The screenplay is solid and sticks to the main story. The characters are well developed and the dialogues are good. Ralph Zimen shows clever use of symbolism.

Sam Neill may be an unusual choice but he carries off the title role very well. It couldn't have been an easy role to play but the actor demonstrates his skills effectively. Gina McKee is a very underrated actress and this is one of the few movies that does justice to her immense talent. The actress is sublime. Javor Loznica does a fantastic job by being restrained and explosive when required. Om Puri makes a strong impression in a small role.

I liked the novel concept of the story. How often does one get to see a movie set in a zoo during a civil war? 'The Zookeeper' is a story about courage, survival, love and sacrifice. We see Ludovic transform into this caring person risking his own life to protect Ankiza and her son. We see Ankiza, who was raped and tortured and is now a hardened soldier who still retains the loving and compassionate side of her own self. Then there's young Zioig who forces himself to be an adult and use a gun but who still hasn't lost his innocence and compassion as is evident in his interaction with the animals. Even though one can see the ending coming, it is superbly done. 'The Zookeeper' is one powerful film that deserves multiple viewing.

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.

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