It would be naturally impulsive to dismiss The Zone Of Interest as ‘another Holocaust film.’ If you watch it, you will see it’s about more than just the Holocaust.
Many people will say that Holocaust films have done countless times before. Even if it is true, there are many angles one can see the Holocaust. This is a story of a different kind. There are a lot of things that will remind people of certain overlooked aspects of the Holocaust that will also disgust them further. First is the Höss’ house built just outside the walls of Auschwitz. I don’t know if there were ever houses built just outside the walls of Auschwitz, but having such in the film is very representative of the two worlds of Germany in World War II. There were the Nazis who had their day in the sun at the time and the Jews and other people Hitler deemed inferior being killed, tortured and even made slaves for the high-ranking Nazis.
Second is the Nazis lived very comfortably. What you see in the film is the Hoss family living their daily home life like a common family. You also see General Hoss following his genocidal Nazi orders and planning out methods and arrangements of the deaths of millions as your common “business as usual.” Seeing that in the film will bring back your feelings of disgust seeing people live “the good life” at the cost of human torture. Seeing how the Höss family sleeps comfortably while the sounds of gunshots and screaming coming from the behind the walls shows how close but far apart those two Germanys were. Even seeing how Hoss and the Nazis treat their genocidal plans to look like a simple day at the office shows the insensitivity at the time and how the Nazis felt that’s how it should be. Making all this destruction of a continent and the planning for genocide look like simplicity is all it’ll take to want to infuriate you.
Additional scenes include the train coming in and out of Auschwitz to drop new prisoners off, the smoke coming from the camp’s gas ovens and crematoriums, and the Höss’ ordering the prisoners they use as slaves around will add to your anger. We forget that the Nazis intended for most prisoners to be killed and a small percent to be used as slaves. Even seeing Hedwig threaten one of her servants to have her gassed will remind you of how remorseless they were.
Despite the Höss family representing the comfortable live from the torture of the War, there are signs of humanity still happening. The most notable is the two scenes of the Polish girl sneaking out and giving food for the prisoners to eat. It’s a reminder that even in the times of the worst of human activity, the values of humanity still existed. They were often hidden or done so at the risk of one’s life, but they did make themselves present at that time.
SPOILER PARAGRAPH: Another thing that will make some people made is that the film doesn’t have an ending with the Hoss’ and all the other Nazis get their day of reckoning. That’s frequently the case in Holocaust movies and that’s normally the ending we want in such a movie. Even though the ending of the Nazis getting a brutal defeat, there are signs on Rudolf that their comeuppance is looming. That the separate worlds of the Nazis living the good life and the torture at Auschwitz will collide. The first scene is when Rudolf and the children are swimming in the river. Soon they’re dirtied by the flow of bones and ash thrown from the camp into the river. Another sign comes when Rudolf gets a female prisoner to perform a favor of a fellatio on him. The third being right after Rudolf speaks to Hedwig after a phone call in Berlin and he gets sick in the empty hallways. Then as it fast forwards to the present where the cleaning women in the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum clean the gas ovens and the windows of displays, that scene shows the fate Rudolf sealed for himself. A fate of an executed criminal after the war ends and a name that will live in infamy.
Top respect should go to director/writer Jonathan Glazer. The film is based on a 2014 novel of the same title. Interestingly, the novel features the first half of an unnamed Nazi meant to mirror the life of Hoss and his family. In the second half, it’s the aftermath set in 1948. Here it appears the film is based completely on the first half. Nevertheless, it is a telling tale of a Nazi and his family living a normal daily life, making his work look like a typical day at the office and a feud between him and Hedwig about his promotion to Berlin look like a common husband/wife feud. Also raising eyebrows is how it mirrored Hoss’ life well from fathering five children, the last born in 1943, his orchestration in Auschwitz and even the months he was away in Berlin. It’s obvious in doing so, Glazer wanted to send a message about how people, especially the Nazis, can live next door to the evil they’ve created and live comfortably. He does an excellent job in doing that with the story and the various camera effects.
One thing about the acting is it’s very low-key compared to most of the acting in the other Best Picture nominees. The standout of this film is the storytelling. Nevertheless, the acting in the film is still very good. Christian Friedel did a very good portrayal of Rudolf Hoss. Despite his performance not being too showy, his acting added to the storytelling. Also great is Sandra Huller as Hedwig. Although her performance pales in comparison to that of Anatomy Of A Fall, she also does a good job in making a hateful Nazi seem like an everyday person and even a common wife. She’s even able to get you thinking at times the film is more about Hedwig than about Rudolf.
The technical elements of the film also add to the story and the message to get across. The cinematography from Lukasz Zal really added to the theme of the film. He features many scenes with unorthodox imagery in the film. Most noteworthy, the scenes of the Polish girl giving prisoners food done looking like a film negative added to the statement Glazer intended to make. The music from Mica Levi helps create the atmosphere for this dark subject matter. The sound crew have to have delivered possibly the most profound contribution to the film. The mixing of sounds like the gunshots and screaming mixed with scenes of the Hoss’ living the comfortable life serve as a reminder of the hidden things that are happening.
This film has had a lot of awards buzz in 2023. It first gained notice at the Cannes Film Festival. Although Anatomy Of A Fall won, this film was a nominee and director Glazer won the Grand Prix and the FIPRESCI Prize. How about that? Two films starring Sandra Huller at the 2023 Cannes Film Fest and both were the most lauded! Interestingly, this film is the UK’s third Oscar nomination in the Best International Feature Film award. It does seem odd for the UK to even have a submission, but Jonathan Glazer being British and the film being in German, Yiddish and Polish, the UK can submit I as their entry. Those other two nominations were back in the 1990’s and were for Welsh-language films. At the time, entries had to be in a language native to the nation. Not anymore. It’s now more about the citizenship of the director. Oscar rules are interesting, aren’t they?
The Zone Of Interest is not the Holocaust film you expect it to be. It’s a film about the Holocaust which Glazer has something to say and is often told through sights and sounds.
And there you go! That’s the last of my reviews of the ten Best Pictures nominees. My blog of my predictions for the Oscar wins coming soon!
Jon The Blogcentric 