The Zone of Interest

Lachlan Thiele 5/28/2023 8:18:33 PM 8.4

<b>INT. LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS - NIGHT</b> Auschwitz is the location of the world's most unforgivable crime — where humanity lost itself. An area forever marked with the horrors of xenophobia and a story that filmmakers continuously attempt to display on the screen. While holocaust cinema isn't being worked into the ground like other genres, there hasn't been a breath of fresh air for a while.  <i>The Zone of Interest</i> is that breath. From the get-go, you're engulfed back into Auschwitz, except in this film, there is a gorgeous house bordering the concentration camp. Immediately this large grey wall hiding the atrocities is juxtaposed with the family's beautiful garden, which their mother wishes to continue improving, never mind the continuous screaming and low rumbling furnace in the area. What <i>Johnathan Glazer</i> does with the sound design of this film is incredible; through audio alone, you're left with a sense of dread; how could you sleep when all you can hear are screams? The film opens with a black screen and an audio scape, immediately setting the tone.  <i>The Zone of Interest</i> layers many elements to create a narrative worth seeing. A narrative we know but in a brand new presentation.  <b>FADE OUT.</b>

Cinema_Snobb 2/29/2024 4:44:37 PM 8.4

Even in the middle of a war, there are two world's that exist side by side. One of ever day life. Raising kids. Working a job. Gardening. Having lunch with friends. Yet...over the wall is horrors. Rudolf Hoss is a commandant at Auschwitz during World War II. His wife Hedwig, played by Sandra Huller, and his children all live in the family homes over the wall from the camp. They live a normal life, and Hedwig prides herself on the beautiful flowers and swimming pool to enjoy. And just over the wall Jews are be incinerated. When Rudolf gets a transfer, Hedwig's life goes into turmoil at the thought of leaving the lovely home she loves. And just over the wall Jews are being incinerated. There's a haunting scene that shows the results of Hedwig's gardening. It shows close-ups of the all the different flowers and plants that have been lovingly been cultivated. They are stunningly beautiful. In the background the sounds of barking dogs and screaming and yelling can be heard. And just over the wall Jews are being incinerated. There is so much about this film that is disturbing. It presents an angle to the war and the concentration camps that I haven't seen before. We often forget about "normal" life going on at the same time. Huller is excellent, just as she was in "Anatomy of a Fall". The film is leisurely and quiet. It doesn't show the horrors of what is going on next door, but it doesn't need to since those horrors permeate every scene. One of the biggest horrors is actually how people can go about living their every day life with exterminations only yards away.

BornKnight 2/21/2024 1:23:37 PM 8.4

The Zone of Interest is a 2023 historical drama film written and directed by Jonathan Glazer, loosely based on the 2014 novel by Martin Amis, that based herself on the life that Rudolf Höss, Nazi commandant of Auschwitz concentration camp from 1940-43 must had in that time in his residence, just at the side of the camp. It premiered at the 76th Cannes Film Festival, winning both the Grand Prix and FIPRESCI Prize. For the 96th Academy Awards, it received 5 nominations (including Best Motion Picture, Best International Feature Film, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Sound) - for me best sound is almost a win, and have great chances for best international movie and adapted screenplay. Both Christian Friedel as Rudolf Höss and Sandra Hüller (from Anatomy of a Fall) as Hedwig Höss are exceptional in their roles. It focus on the idyllic live of the Nazi commander, in his house on the most normal life conditions, while the Holocaust and the killing machine he created works at just some meters of distance. The camera focus on medium and large plans, often showing the life of the dreams, but on the horizon we often see signs of the terror like smoke from the locomotives and from the enormous chimneys at the distance. We also have other signs, extremely subtle, like the sound of shouts and shots at the background, that only shows as more close in rare sequences. Other sequences like the girl, shoot in Infrared that left at night apples and fruits for the camp workers are just haunting (and the cause of one of the more aggressive shout sequence I mention above). Interesting enough is the view as close the view of the concentration camp is on the movie in the past, and in the present as a memorial. Both are unmistakable, but in either vision a far cry from what the reality must have been inside them. For the movie is a 8.6 from 10.0 / A- and a must see for 2024.