The Zone of Interest
Overview
The Zone of Interest is a 2023 historical drama film written and directed by Jonathan Glazer, based on the 2014 novel by Martin Amis. The film is set in Auschwitz, during the Holocaust. The film follows Rudolf Höss (Christian Friedel), the commandant of Auschwitz, and his wife, Hedwig (Sandra Hüller), who live in a beautiful house with a garden, just outside the camp walls. The film is a chilling, mundane, and deeply disturbing portrait of the banality of evil. The Höss family lives a normal, middle-class life. They have servants, they have parties, and they tend to their garden. They are happy. They are also living next to one of the largest murder sites in human history. The sounds of the camp — gunshots, screams, the roar of the crematorium — are constantly in the background, but the family ignores them. The film is shot in a cold, detached, and observational style. Glazer uses no music, and the camera is often static. The film is not a graphic depiction of the Holocaust; it is a study of the people who made it possible. The film ends with Höss being transferred to a different camp. He walks down a flight of stairs, and the film cuts to the present day, showing the Auschwitz-Birkenau memorial. The Zone of Interest won two Academy Awards for Best International Feature Film and Best Sound. It was nominated for Best Picture and Best Director. The film is a masterpiece of cinematic restraint, a devastating and unforgettable portrait of the human capacity for evil.
