Minor spoilers ahead.
I watched The Zone of Interest on Tuesday. I only began writing this review on Saturday. I needed this time to process what I had witnessed, and then motivate myself to begin the daunting task of articulating my thoughts and feelings.
Per writer-director Jonathan Glazer, the story is about a man with a lovely family and house, and who “also happens to be the commandant of Auschwitz”. It is based on the 2014 novel by Martin Amis, and stars Christian Friedel as Rudolf Höss, who lives with his wife Hedwig (Sandra Hüller) and family in a villa where their garden wall separates them from the Auschwitz concentration camps.
The film begins with a dark screen punctuated by a musical overture which later is repeated all throughout. We, the audience, become instantly aware that something is happening, but we are not afforded the sight of it just yet.
Now, is there a correct way to depict evil on screen? Is the omission of violence just as impactful as visibility? This film benefits from this cinematic choice as the entire narrative is haunted by the presence of the Auschwitz concentration camps next door.
Writer and Holocaust survivor, Primo Levi, once stated, “Monsters exist, but they are too few in number to be truly dangerous. More dangerous are the common men, the functionaries ready to believe and to act without asking questions.”
Echoing similar sentiments, Glazer sought to move beyond the Hollywood depiction of perpetrators as villains. While some superficially interpret that as humanising perpetrators for the sake of minimising their complicity, Glazer intended a forensic examination of these individuals beyond the “artifice of cinema”. In doing so, he stripped back our tendencies to label perpetrators as monsters, and then rationalise, “that’s not me, [therefore] I’m safe”. In other words, we want to reassure ourselves that we are not culpable.
The dialogue effectively integrated sinister attitudes within mundane conversations. In one scene, a German woman complains when a housemaid picks a second-hand dress “that belonged to some little Jewess half her size.” She subtly mocks the emaciated body of a Jewish girl undergoing genocide, saying that the housemaid should be able to “lose weight so she could wear [the dress].”
Another discussion that stood out was the mention of a couple moving to Auschwitz for employment at a new factory. The lack of specificity of what the factory produces only added to the audience’s background knowledge that the entire economy was geared at propping up the Nazi regime and its war policies.
As a historical film, you would not expect to see dark humour in some of the audacious statements made by the German characters. For instance, Höss is very serious about punishing SS members who pick lilacs in an insensitive manner as it goes against “the interest of our whole community”. Another moment was when Hedwig unnervingly flaunts herself as “the queen of Auschwitz” as she has fulfilled her duties as a citizen to move eastward for Lebensraum (living space).
Christian Friedel as Rudolf Höss in The Zone of Interest. Source: Madman Entertainment.
Two scenes remain ingrained in my mind; a war room where all camp commandants sat around a table, and the opulent high-ceiling ballroom. Here, Glazer and cinematographer Łukasz Żal opt for an extreme birds-eye view, further emphasising the horror enclosed within internal spaces. Höss’ nighttime routine of turning off the lights, locking doors and drawing the curtains is also memorable. This not only shows how meticulous he is but how fearful he is of confronting the reality behind the wall.
As such, the politics of inclusion-exclusion are on full display. We are cognisant of the presence of Jewish prisoners but remain situated in the life of the German Nazi. The only glimpse beyond that was the black-and-white thermal vision of Aleksandra, a Polish girl, who sneaks out at night to hide food for the prisoners.
The genocide is always depicted off-screen, with screams of panic, crying, train engines, and gunshots. There are various moments where the Germans are forced to confront proof of the muted horrors, yet they are able to escape every time and avoid the scene of the crime. Höss’ children — his boys in particular — do not escape their militaristic environment and are shown mimicking what they hear with their toy soldiers and world of make-believe.
Despite a promotion, Höss is reluctant to be transferred from Auschwitz to Oranienburg, and his wife Hedwig, is even more adamant in remaining in her twisted kingdom. The line “they’d have to carry me out of here…this is our home” reminded me of the plantation scene in Apocalypse Now (Redux and Final Cut) where the French refuse to leave Vietnam, also asserting that it is their home.
Hedwig asks Höss to put an end to this by contacting Himmler, or even Hitler himself. Glazer highlights this family’s privilege, that they are able to complain about bureaucracy, unlike the minority populations systematically persecuted under the Third Reich.
The acting of Friedel and Hüller was not contrived. They were very convincing, and ultimately were more disturbing than if they had exaggerated their villainy. In particular, Hüller should have been a bigger awards contender for her role as Hedwig, which could have seen her receive double-nominations alongside her performance in Justine Triet’s Anatomy of a Fall.
Sandra Hüller as Hedwig Höss in The Zone of Interest. Source: Madman Entertainment.
Mica Levi’s sonorous and memorable score was used sparingly, yet it enhanced the auditory experience as it crept in, juxtaposed alongside the peaceful sounds of nature and horrifying sounds of Auschwitz.
Interestingly, no lighting equipment was used with the crew relying on the house lights and natural light. Similarly, no camera crew were present in the scenes with the actors, instead working out of trailers. This was part of a deliberate choice to wire cameras and microphones within the house, affording actors the space and freedom to develop their characters, often shooting scenes for “45 minutes straight”.
I do not want to spoil the film’s conclusion as it involves a somewhat radical storytelling device that when misused, can render the audience disoriented from the narrative. Glazer knew he was dealing with a burdensome truth, and instead of showing us the fate of the characters we have been following, he restored our sense of sight with poignant imagery of the culmination of history.
While accepting the LA Film Critics Association Award for Best Director, Glazer aptly positions his film in the current zeitgeist, saying:
“Obviously the events in the film predate the abominations of these current conflicts by years. But the questions it poses are the same: to ask ourselves to have a genuine human response, to ask ourselves why one life can be considered more valuable than another. Human pain is pain and loss is loss and at their most basic or fundamental, the needs and desires of any of us are the same. Violence and oppression of any kind produces more violence and more oppression, not less.”
The Zone of Interest deserves greater recognition in current film discourse, and more broadly, in sociopolitical conversations due to the ongoing tragedies unfolding in Gaza. Every January 27, we commemorate International Holocaust Remembrance Day, and repeat the sentiment of “never again”. “Never again” applies to all of humanity, and now more than ever, we must be able to recognise genocide, even as many hide behind the wall of selective activism or justify themselves as distant from the site of violence.
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Update as of February 5: Sound designer Mica Levi called for a ceasefire while accepting the technical achievement award for music and sound at the London Critics Circle Awards. Additionally, when receiving Best Film of the Year, producer James Wilson urged for greater empathy not only towards people in Ukraine or Southern Israel, but also towards people in Gaza and Yemen. Per journalist and film critic Hanna Ines Flint, who also attended the event:
“Both the Zone of Interest winners said seeing my Palestine sticker inspired them to speak out on Gaza. This is why expressing your support matters.”
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The Zone of Interest is in Australian cinemas February 22.