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.
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.
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