We sat down to The Zookeeper's Wife knowing only that it was a tale of Second World War heroism. After the opening sequence our attention was rapt. The sheer brutality of the Nazi machine flattening Poland was demonstrated by the bombing of Warsaw Zoo. The Germans rounded up prized animals for genetic experimentation then systematically slaughtered the defenceless remainder.
We caught our breath from this action and followed the resistance activities of the zookeeper and his wife who went on to smuggle hundreds of Jews out of Warsaw using the zoo as a way station. It was highly satisfying to see the Nazis turn the zoo into a pig farm for meat only to have the owners drive around Warsaw in a cart, obligingly collecting scraps for pig food, while all the time picking up and hiding children for later release right under their noses.
The following night we watched The Way Back, a deep character study of a former basketball star who had fallen into alcoholism after the death of his young son. We see him find purpose again coaching a failing high school team back to greatness. You don't need to know anything about basketball to appreciate this, just about humanity.
