Director: Jonathan Glazer
Writer: Jonathan Glazer, based on the book by Martin Amis
Cast: Christian Friedel, Sandra Hüller, Johann Karthaus, Luis Noah Witte, Nele Ahrensmeier, Lilli Falk, Imogen Kogge, Andrey Isaev, Stephanie Petrowitz, Martyna Poznanski, Zuzanna Kobiela

Any time one ventures into a movie that is based on something as historically important and dreadful to recall as the Holocaust, one does so with a certain amount of trepidation. If the film is done well, there is a lot of emotion to be felt, lessons to be learned and reminders to be had. Examples of Holocaust movies done respectfully and impactfully are Steven Spielberg’s Schindler’s List, Mark Herman’s The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas and George Stevens’s The Diary of Anne Frank (1959), to name but a few. To join these ranks takes a great feat, and its one Jonthan Glazer hasn’t taken lightly with The Zone of Interest. Is it as impactful and respectful as a WWII-set movie should be, or has it missed the point entirely?

In German-occupied Poland in 1943, Rudolf Höss (Friedel) lives with his wife Hedwig (Hüller), their five children and multiple servants in a beautiful house adjacent to the concentration camp at Auschwitz, of which Rudolf is commandant. While Hedwig spends her days gardening and running the household, Rudolf works long hours making decisions and giving orders for the camp, occasionally taking time out to spend with his family. They live an idyllic life, making the most of the Polish countryside. It’s a life which Hedwig does not wish to change. Rudolf is recognised for his achievements and receives a promotion, which means leaving his family for a time, as Hedwig refuses to leave Auschwitz.

The Zone of Interest, if I were to crudely sum it up, is not about what we see, but what we hear within the film. The life that the Höss family leads is one many dream of, with a wonderful home and family, a lot of money and nary a care in the world. But the stark contrast of this life being literally connected to the most infamous of concentration camps, where the most heinous crimes against humanity were committed, is harrowing and sobering, to say the least. While the Hösses relax in their garden or sip a drink in a spacious, clean room, the sounds of gunfire, screaming and flames resonate from the camp and its crematoriums, preventing us from seeing the Hösses the way they see themselves. They continue to go about their lives while choosing to ignore the sounds (although it does prove too much for one character at one point). It is in no way subtle; the horrors are right in front of us without us even needing to see anything. It’s this juxtaposition of heaven and hell that keeps us feeling decidedly uncomfortable throughout the film, and that’s before certain topics are discussed in Nazi meetings that Rudolf attends.

When talking about a Holocaust film, it feels wrong to discuss things like the cinematography, or the music, or the set design, because the subject matter is truly the priority of the film. However, it works to further push the aforementioned juxtaposition and is important to point out. The cinematography and set design, from the German perspective, is stunning. The external and internal sets, the crisp, well-laundered clothes of a military family and the angular and rigid camera angles are exactly what you might expect from a Nazi military perspective, and all is very aesthetically pleasing. It is the complete opposite of what one would see on the other side of the concentration camp fence, which is represented through sound effects, soundscapes and jarring compositions. What we, as an audience, hear versus what we see leaves us with a sickening feeling. At least, it does if you have an ounce of humanity about you.

It must be tough to perform in a film that depicts the worst of your own (possible) ancestors, but the cast did what they had to do to create something extremely worthwhile. Friedel’s performance was everything it needed to be. His character of Rudolf shows no remorse, no ambiguity in relation to his loyalties and a broken moral compass. Friedel gives us no trouble disliking him, but we do struggle to understand just where Rudolf’s brainwashing has come from. Hüller is on quite a winning streak right now, with her performance in Anatomy of a Fall being universally praised, and now she is nominated for an Oscar (both films are doing remarkably well overall). Hüller has previously said she wasn’t interested in doing any film pertaining to Naziism, however the script for The Zone of Interest changed her mind. In a similar way to Friedel, Hüller presents her character as incredibly uncaring of the atrocities happening on her front step, yet very caring of her own family. The film is full of juxtapositions, and Hedwig is yet another two-sided coin, very well portrayed by Hüller. There are some excellent supporting performances also, performances that go a long way in supporting the characters of Rudolf and Hedwig and our dislike of them. The characters also make you think, how far can our hatred of those so indoctrinated into committing genocide go?

The Zone of Interest is absolutely a film to consider when learning about the Holocaust and what was happening from a Nazi perspective, because nothing about it provides any real rationalisation as to why it was all happening, but rather reinforces the dehumanisation of it all. Although the Nazis are the film’s POV, not once do we feel in alignment with the German characters. Nothing about it glorifies the subject matter, but nor does it overtly throw the events in our faces. The facts are presented in a neutral, realistic manner, and truly that is all that’s needed to feel anger, sadness and a deep pain for what the Jewish people (and many others) endured. This is an important film and is highly deserving of all its award nominations.