On this day in movie history - The Zone of Interest (2023)

 

The Zone of Interest

directed by Jonathan Glazer,

written by Jonathan Glazer and Martin Amis,

based on the novel by Martin Amis,

was released at the Cannes Film Festival in France on May 19, 2023.

Music by Mica Levi.

 

Review by Jack Kost / Friday, May 17, 2024:
 
I’m writing my own book on movies, with 325 pages complete so far, over 1,900 movies reviewed, and personal experiences of being a movie buff.
 
I had to include The Zone of Interest after seeing it recently on HBO.
 
Based on the true story, written in novel form by the author, of Rudolf Höss, the commandant of the Auschwitz Nazi concentration camp.

He, along with his wife, Hedwig, and their children, lived in a house on the other side of the boundary wall, with the camp watch tower and top floors of the buildings always visible.

The family enjoyed their artificial oasis, spending their time mostly at leisure: sunbathing, swimming, gardening … all with the sounds from the camp constantly in the background.

Yet, the Höss family coldly went about their lives, ignoring it all, pretending it wasn’t happening.

Their daily routine shown at a slow pace, a study of the banality of evil.

As Rudolf Höss oversaw the slaughter within the camp, Hedwig plundered the belongings stolen from the prisoners, the spoils of war, kept what she wanted and used the place as her own personal thrift store.

We, the viewers, never see the war crimes committed by the Nazis, the horror, the atrocities, the sadistic cruelty inflicted on the camp prisoners, but we hear it: the screaming of pain and torment, guards shouting, dogs barking, gunshots, flames from the crematorium.

This cacophony of background noise forces our imagination to conjure the hellish images.

What we see is the smoke from the train bringing new prisoners to be put to work or murdered.

The smoke from the chimney stack, from bodies being cremated, always there in the sky.

At night, the orange glow from the chimney stack flames illuminates the rooms.

The Zone of Interest is a must-see movie you will never forget.

It’s a movie as powerful and important as Schindler's List (1993), directed by Steven Spielberg; The Pawnbroker (1964), directed by Sidney Lumet; Anne Frank: The Whole Story (2001), directed by Robert Dornhelm; The Survivor (2021), directed by Barry Levinson; Conspiracy (2001), directed by Frank Pierson; Anthropoid (2016), directed by Sean Ellis; The Captain (2017), directed by Robert Schwentke; Judgment at Nuremberg (1961), directed by Stanley Kramer; Nuremberg (2000), directed by Yves Simoneau; and many others.

The Zone of Interest concludes with Rudolf Höss pausing to stare into the darkness of corridors, before walking down a flight of stairs, again into darkness, a man without God, without a soul, descending into the abyss, damned to Hell.

Intercut are scenes from modern day: the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, cleaned by a team of janitors.

On permanent display, behind protective screens, are photographs, piles of clothes, shoes, suitcases and belongings, stolen from the prisoners.

The remains of the camp are preserved, to inform and teach future generations about a horrific period in history.

A period that should be studied, learned from, and never forgotten, so it will never be repeated.
 

Cast:

Christian Friedel, Sandra Hüller, Johann Karthaus, Luis Noah Witte, Nele Ahrensmeier, Lilli Falk, Anastazja Drobniak, Cecylia Pekala, Kalman Wilson, Medusa Knopf, Max Beck, Slava the Dog, Andrey Isaev, Julia Babiarz, Stephanie Petrowitz, Martyna Poznanski, Zuzanna Kobiela, Benjamin Utzerath, Thomas Neumann, Klaudiusz Kaufmann, Justyna Szklarska, Kacper Piwko, Marie Rosa Tietjen, Antje Falk, Jakub Sierenberg, Joerg Sierenberg, Joerg Giessler, Heiko Lange, Marek Lukasik, Bernhard Schirmer, Julia Polaczek, Shenja Lacher, Imogen Kogge, Wiktoria Wisniewska, Paulina Burzyk, Anna Marciniszyn, Agnieszka Wierny, Patryk Mika, Tomasz Piwko, Carsten Koch, Heinz Nielow, Christine Schröder, Marnius Fislage, Ralph Herforth, Daniel Holzberg, Rainer Haustein, Daniel Hoffman, Wolfgang Lampl, Oscar Lebeck, Christian Willy, Freya Kreutzkam, Leo Meier, Barbara Koszatka, Izabela Bara, Anna Kuwik, Mariola Karczewska, Halina Drzymota, Dominika Matonóg, Ewelina Kaczor, Matgorzata Zurek, Barbara Jakubowska, Etzbieta Bronka, Zuzanna Janusik, Sascha Maaz, Ralf Zillmann.