‘The Zookeeper’s Wife’ on HBO: Five Reasons Why This Had Oscar Buzz

Our notions of what kinds of movies count as “Oscar movies” has been steadily evolving for years. Steadily, the triumphs of edgy, difficult movies like The Departed and No Country for Old Men, or artistic genre experiments like The Artist or unflinching intensity like 12 Years a Slave — all these movies managed to tip the scales slightly while still remaining squarely in the box of the kinds of movies Oscar has traditionally enjoyed (gangster movies, historical epics, movies about Hollywood). But the last three years have represented a quantum leap forward, with last year’s triumph for Moonlight being the least “Oscar-y” in decades. At least since The Silence of the Lambs. If Get Out can find a way to triumph this year, the old rules might as well get thrown in the bin.

Of course, it’s still fun to think about those older notions of “Oscar bait.” While too often it’s thought of as a pejorative, it basically only means an adult drama about serious or weighty themes, starring actors who have proved themselves to be award-worthy in the past. Notionally, that’s not a bad thing at all. But when it goes bad, the temptation to point out a film’s failed awards ambition is too great.

It’s perhaps the most interesting thing about The Zookeeper’s Wife, a spring 2017 release that was neither a hit nor bad enough to be a scourge. Based on a Diane Ackerman book, the film tells the story of two Polish zookeepers — a man and his wife — who helped save hundreds of people and animals during the German invasion. It blew the doors off of no movie theaters, but neither did it offend. It was fine. But on paper, and especially in the old days, this could’ve been a contender. But why?

1) Jessica Chastain. Jessica Chastain’s breakthrough year in 2011 was a thing of beauty to behold. After a string of standout performances in The Tree of Life, Take Shelter, and The Help, she’d instantly established herself as the next great serious American actor, and she got an Oscar nod for the most fun of those three performances, in The Help. She was nominated again for Zero Dark Thirty, where she got to be the contrarian’s should’ve-won choice when Jennifer Lawrence triumphed, much like Cate Blanchett was when Gwyneth Paltrow beat her in 1998. And just as happened with Blanchett, every subsequent role Chastain takes will carry with it a modicum of Oscar buzz, because everybody believes it’s only a matter of time before she wins one for herself.

2) Niki Caro. The director of Whale Rider, Caro is a New Zealander who will always be attached to that film’s indie-darling Oscar run. While all the hopes for that film were concentrated into the Best Actress nominated performance of Keisha Castle-Hughes, the fact that Caro followed that up with North Country, which nabbed a Best Actress nod for Charlize Theron, gave Caro a track record as a director of Oscar-worthy performances. She hasn’t come close to reaching those heights since, but you can see where some figured teaming with Chastain would do the trick.

3) Based on a novel. In the first half of the ’90s, four out of five Best Picture winners were based on books. It just feels more prestigious to make a movie based on a book that’s already been praised and awarded and loved. It’s the Oscar version of making movies based on superheroes.

4) Focus Features. While the indie arm of Universal is no longer the awards giant it once was back when it was a truly independent studio — Focus grew out of the indie studios Gramercy Pictures and USA Films — it can’t be denied that Focus spent the bulk of the first decade of the 2000s dominating the Oscar-friendly indie scene. The list of films is too formidable to deny: The Pianist and Far From Heaven in 2002, Lost in Translation and 21 Grams in 2003, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and The Motorcycle Diaries in 2004, The Constant Gardener, Pride and Prejudice, and Brokeback Mountain in 2005. Atonement, In Bruges, Milk, A Serious Man, The Kids Are All Right, Beginners. It’s a stellar track record, launching he film careers and giving an awards-y sheen to filmmakers from Joe Wright to Rian Johnson to Martin McDonagh. It’s been a while since it was a regular feature on the Best Picture lineup, but the label still carries weight.

5) The subject matter. The Holocaust remains one of the leading indicators of import on Oscar movies.

The Zookeeper’s Wife won’t be showing up on any awards ballots this season. Not because it was bad but because it wasn’t good enough to grab anyone by the shoulders and give them something exciting. Still, it’s emblematic of a type of movie that, when it succeeds, it feels like it was always destined for laurels. And when it doesn’t succeed, well, we’ll always (?) remember the Oscar buzz.

 

Where to stream The Zookeeper's Wife