‘The Zookeeper’s Wife’ tells a compelling story of heroism

You need not know the story told in “The Zookeeper’s Wife” — first a nonfiction book and now a bigscreen drama — for it to feel familiar.

It is a tale, like so many others, of honorable and heroic people living in Europe during World War II risking their lives to hide Jews who otherwise may be exterminated by Germany’s Nazi Party.

That the story feels familiar makes this cinematic version of it no less dramatic. “The Zookeeper’s Wife” is a highly compelling work. And while it occasionally stalls just a bit in the middle, its final stretch is every bit as riveting as you would expect.

The book, penned by Diane Ackerman and published in 2007, is based on the diary of Antonina Zabinska, who, with husband Jan — director of the Warsaw Zoo — hid 300 Jewish men, women and children imprisoned in the Warsaw Ghetto after the Nazi’s 1939 invasion of Poland.

In the film, the talented Jessica Chastain — last seen in the forgettable “Mrs. Sloane” late last year but great in films such as “Zero Dark Thirty” — gives a wonderful performance as Antonina. Early on in “The Zookeeper’s Wife,” we see her lovingly interacting with a female elephant at the zoo.

“What a beautiful girl you are,” Antonia says adoringly to the huge creature.

Seemingly not long after, Antonia is pulled from a party she and her husband are hosting at their home on the zoo grounds because that elephant’s young child is having trouble breathing, a problem Antonia remedies while exhibiting little fear of being hurt among the huge, lumbering animals. This is witnessed by party guests, including the Third Reich’s newly appointed chief zoologist, Lutz Heck (Daniel Brühl).

While Jan (Johan Heldenbergh of “The Broken Circle Breakdown”) worries about a possible coming invasion by the Nazis and wants Antonia to take their young son to leave the city in favor of a safer location, she refuses, saying she doesn’t understand why people’s first instinct is to run when they don’t know what is coming and that such an action would be bad for their boy. She quickly changes her opinion, however, when bombs start to drop on the zoo, one coming perilously close to the child.

While she and her son do remain at the zoo, she fears for their animals, some of which are killed in the invasion — including, to remind us the emotional toll of war, elephants. (Animal lovers should be aware some terrible fates await many of the zoo’s inhabitants in the film.) Without her husband being present, she strikes a deal with Lutz for him to take some of their prized animals to his zoo in Berlin, where they should be safer. He gives his word they will be returned after the war, which he has been assured by superiors will be won by the Axis powers in short order.

Next, she and Jan turn their attention to a Jewish friend who fears for her life and who Antonia wants to help.

“We can’t even give her a glass of water,” Jan tells his wife. “We can be shot for a glass of water.”

But they do hide her, which leads to them protecting many more endangered Jews. They fill their basement with terrified people who must remain very quiet during the day. If they hear her piano being played during daylight hours, it is a signal they must be absolutely silent because Nazi representation has come to the house; after midnight, the music indicates the last patrol for the night has gone and they may move about the home.

The Zabinskas are able to accomplish this largely because they — mainly Antonia, who clearly interests Lutz — convince him the zoo should remain open as a pig farm, the animals they raise to be turned into much-needed meat for the soldiers.

Their efforts are complicated by Lutz’s desire to use the zoo’s bison to attempt to breed Auroch, a powerful bison once common in German forests but now gone. (When Jan tells Lutz this can’t be done, the latter doesn’t take to kindly to the suggestion.)

As the war wears on, it is tough on the couple for myriad reasons, one of which is Antonia must make some efforts to placate Lutz, whose desire for her is expressed in increasingly overt ways. Reject him, she fears, and she risks the safety of all involved in their efforts. Even if down deep he agrees, Jan is more and more angered by the situation.

“The Zookeeper’s Wife” is deftly directed by Niki Caro (“Whale Rider,” “North Country”), who errs on the side of subtlety, not squeezing out all the drama from every situation she might have. While, again, the film drags just a bit at times, it is an approach that pays off in the long run, allowing her to earn at least one moment that borders on manipulative to the audience but ultimately works.

Angela Workman’s adaptation is likewise commendable. She finds the power in the story, in part by more than once using the phrase “to be liquidated” to mean, chillingly, to refer to a planned extermination of one type or another.

Chastain isn’t the one who offers the tale very good acting, although it is her movie. Bruhl (“Rush,” “Captain America: Civil War”), who also is generally excellent is most roles, also offers subtlely here. This is no cartoonish Nazi villain. Finally, the lesserknown Heldenbergh is also terrific as the measured but determined Jan. We need to see more of Heldenbergh in the future.

Maybe you will learn something from “The Zookeeper’s Wife,” or perhaps it simply will be powerful reminder of history you know. Regardless, it is a story worth knowing.