The Zone of Interest

There have been plenty of movies that have highlighted the Holocaust, enough so that they have become a staple in Hollywood history and especially at the Oscars. Whether it was the emotional turmoil of Sophie’s Choice, the soul-crushing struggle of The Pianist, the impactful determination of Schindler’s List, or the bizarrely positive warming light of Life is Beautiful, most stories that tackle one of the darkest periods of human history are recognized with a high pedigree and have become household names. This frequent showcase brings a sense of awareness, but also a risk of becoming repetitive, with most of these movies containing similar scenes, themes, and presentations, meaning that any new film in the modern era would need to try and stand out from the crowd in order to not feel redundant. The 2023 Polish film, The Zone of Interest, seemed to avoid any blatant comparisons, received an equal amount of industry praise, and collected accordingly. Set in 1943 Germany during the Nazi Regime, Rudolf Höss (played by Christian Friedel) is the commandant of the Auschwitz concentration camp and lives right across its borders with his wife, Hedwig (played by Sandra Hüller) and his five young children. Having settled in quite nicely, and with the children and especially Hedwig appreciating the multiple Jewish workers and the various ‘’gifts’’ they receive from the camp, things seem picturesque for this family, but that will soon be shattered when it’s revealed that Rudolf has been reinstated to another outpost due to a lacking performance in his current position. With Hedwig refusing to move and Rudolf leaving his family behind to work in a new location, all of this family strife causes them to turn a blind eye to the horrific actions going on literally right next door. Winning two Oscars for Best International Feature Film and Best Sound, this A24 historical drama based on the novel of the same name written by Martin Amis, attempted to tell a familiar story in a more experimental manner and managed to succeed. While not as captivating and classic as those previously listed, its intentionally subdued atmosphere, gripping performances, starkly precise visual design and appreciated restraint surrounding what it shows and what it only infers to, makes it stand out from amongst the crowd.

While the movie keeps the outline from the original novel about a Nazi officer dealing with a personal conflict whilst ignoring the bigger tragedy he is actively watching over, the actual plot is entirely different, with the book featuring more of a twisted love triangle whereas the film simplifies things to a more standard but still messed-up ‘’slice-of-life’’ scenario between a married couple and their children. Even with these changes, it still manages to retain the story’s uncomfortable atmosphere, the erosion of a person’s psyche in such a horrific location and time period (even if unintentional), the balance between a chaotic work life and a mundane home life and how that affects oneself, and its presentation of the Holocaust as a backdrop to a far less important human issue. The film doesn’t scream its point to the audience and if anything, is far more subdued and slow-moving, letting every minute detail of its visuals, acting and dialogue properly sink in and show the audience that it’s going to be a different kind of Holocaust picture. At first, this presentation comes off as a little pretentious, with an opening act that features odd filmmaking decisions, shots that hold way too long on imagery that doesn’t need that level of time, and a delivery that is unique and effective (the idea of showcasing a German family living right next to a concentration camp and being so caught up in their own little problems that they completely block out the literal genocide going on next door, is wonderfully ironic and cinematic from a smaller perspective), but seems very upfront and not very flexible with what else it can portray after the first muted gasp, cry and gunshot. Thankfully, as the film continues and reaches the halfway point, that veil of pompousness fades away and it settles into itself, presenting the story with the same kind of restraint, calmness, and fancy composure, but now in a way that doesn’t feel like it’s solely banking on this one idea to have merit. The pace gets a lot better, the short running time shows that it is aware it can’t stretch things out forever, the acting is wonderfully reserved yet contains fragments of emotional nuances and ticks that make you want to know more about these people, the visuals are never in-your-face flashy yet are constructed in a way that allows the imagery to say a lot with very little, and the directing and writing by Jonathan Glazer is able to display this seen-before situation and period of time, in a stylish yet still real manner.

One of the aspects that Glazer wanted to convey the most in this film was removing this element of mysticism surrounding the Nazis and the horrors that they inflicted. While a good majority of Earth’s population are familiar with and rightfully despise everything attached with such a heinous and vile group of people, many associate that kind of hatred with a long-forgotten past, and cinematic portrayals have overplayed the trope to such an overt and even comically evil degree to the point that the perspective has shifted from realistic to theatrical, and Glazer wanted to remind people of the reality of it. It’s interesting watching a film from the perspective of indoctrinated people, in that it paints these individuals as not 100% monstrous, but clearly not sympathetic. This family feel like a traditional nuclear family and their issues are treated as traditional family grievances, but their ties to such a dark period of history and their ambivalence against these atrocities, makes them a lot more disturbing and cold-hearted than if they were just orchestrated movie monsters. While the script doesn’t allow for a ton of character in the dialogue, some of these roles are very nicely constructed and are acted accordingly to bring forth some level of nuance. This is shown pretty well by the two leads, with both Christian Friedel and Sandra Hüller housing some pretty great characters that feel pretty complex through the minimal dialogue, body language, and expressions. Friedel as the Nazi commandant is played as very quiet and anti-social, like a sociopath who feels nothing when he’s surrounded by thousands of screaming men, women, and children. In spite of this, he never screams, gets aggressive with anyone, and even seems to genuinely love his wife and children, it’s a portrayal of a villainous Nazi that hasn’t really been showcased before in mainstream cinema and Friedel does a great job making this unresponsive figure still feel alive and grappling with something even if it is never outright stated or even showcased. On the flip side, Sandra Hüller plays such a horrible woman who clearly just enjoys the privilege of being a Nazi’s wife, to the point that she comes across as more monstrous than her husband. She flaunts around the screen wearing multiple different ill-fitting clothing (that were clearly taken from the camps), her speech pattern is arrogant and like she’s pretending to be smarter than she actually is, and her sudden outbursts and total disregard for her own children in favor of her own vanity, results in her being the most hated person in the whole film (which is baffling considering the subject matter). The rest of the actors are also fairly strong, and some carry that same kind of ‘’more under the surface’’ kind of delivery like Imogen Kogge, Johann Karthaus, Luis Noah White and Julia Polaczek, but not to as strong a degree.

Being an A24 film, it is expected to be a very pretty picture that houses extremely dark content through a very honest portrayal, and considering how popular this film was at the Oscars with every trailer showcasing the notable visual style, it was going to be a key component of the film’s identity and personality. As previously stated, it initially feels like a fancy gimmick that adds very little and is only used for ‘’sophistication marks’’ as the audience can get the point very quickly and it doesn’t seem like it highlights much else (if anything, it almost feels like a hinderance), but as the film continues and the imagery becomes a little more purposeful, it does work much better. There’s a symmetry to the camerawork by Lukasz Til that really makes you look at all the things being put on display in every shot (which does at times conflict with the subtitles and result in missing some information, but the film’s simple narrative means you can still follow it even if you miss something). It’s very angular and well positioned, always existing in this box or rectangle aspect ratio rather than containing any cinematic tricks or fun angles, keeping everything straight and narrow and making sure you are unable to glance away from the obvious. It makes things off-putting and even a little invasive, with some scenes being shot like someone is actually filming their house through where and how the cameras are positioned. The production design by Chris Oddy, while going a little under the radar, is also deceptively well-tuned. The house itself has a very dry, colorless and old-fashioned look to it, which leaves little room for comfort in this already unpleasant living environment, the backyard is overgrown with messy hedges and patches of pretty greenery (obviously planted by other people), and the way the surrounding walls are just large enough to cover the inhabitants, but not high enough to block the audience from seeing just above it, does a great job visually highlighting the entire point of the film and how this home is a bubble in which these people blissfully live within while terror goes on around them.

The Zone of Interest doesn’t feel like a Holocaust film in the same way that Sophie’s Choice, Schindler’s List, The Pianist, and Life is Beautiful do. While those movies are more cinematically appealing and are portrayed in a gritty and uncomfortable yet still theatrical manner, this movie is actually far less shocking and doesn’t showcase anything outlandish, but still captures a composed realism that is a little less approachable but is no less unnerving, bringing a new perspective on a period of time that has been portrayed several times over. The manner in which it tells this very casual family story against the backdrop of something like Auschwitz is the right amount of ironic as well as uncomfortably natural, with the acting, directing and visuals all adding to that vibe in a noticeable, but not self-congratulatory way. It’s not going to wow everybody and there are a few choice moments that feel a little too artsy (the first few minutes are nothing but black screen, for reasons), but as a window into the past through the lens of creepy normalcy, this is a peak beyond the wall that is worth seeing with your own eyes.