Actually, it’s impressive how Focus Features decided to make use of him.
However, he did in the film serve as a valuable catalyst for several critical story points.
The biggest change in two words–Herr Heck! (Above photo.) Heck was undoubtedly an important character in the book, but he didn’t have nearly the impact the movie implies. Despite the necessary changes that were made, the original integrity of the book remains fully intact. Okay, so…several points in the movie differed from the book, but it wasn’t enough to detract from the story. I’m about to write a more in-depth review of the book-to-movie transformation, so FLEE if you don’t want to hear anything about what’s in the book/movie! I don’t want to spoil this for anyone, so stop reading now if you so desire. Overall, it was an extremely well-produced film and I highly recommend seeing it! However, all changes were reasonable and within character. Yes, scenes were cut, changes were made, encounters were added, etc. What impressed me the most about the movie adaption was how Focus Features managed to remain so incredibly faithful to the book (which spanned a very well documented six-seven years!). (Many thanks to my darling hubby for both driving me the three hours down to DC for the advance screening AND for being my semi-willing book-holder when I found a movie poster.)
While the book itself was fairly impersonal (read my spoiler-free review here!), the movie adaption was beautiful, heartbreaking, and incredibly meaningful. I hadn’t actually read The Zookeeper’s Wife at that point, but a quick glance at the Goodreads reviews assured me that this would be an excellent book to turn movie. When I was contacted by Focus Features a couple months ago asking if I would be willing to review the book-to-movie adaption of The Zookeeper’s Wife, I was ECSTATIC.