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Wow, That's some experience in a theatre. Jonathan Glazer (Sexy Beast, Under the Skin) has created a film about the Nazis and the holocaust quite different from any other I have experienced. It is set in the family home of key Commander Rudolf Hoss, who lives in a lovely house – right outside the walls to Auschwitz concentration camp. Glazer lets his audience see Hoss’ family routines, strife and happy moments, all the while next door his ideas and slaughterings are taking place. Immediately after the showing I was not sure what I had just seen and experienced. The film is artful but has moments of abstractness and odd quietness. After having digested it for a good few hours, I can safely say it’s one of the films of the year (already).
The key to this film is what we hear. The sound design is absolutely devastating, in that it induces the power of suggestion. We already know what has gone on in these camps, because we have seen countless films which have burned indelible images on our brains. Glazer piggybacks on this and lets us hear only the audio, while we see Hoss and his family enabling all of this terror. In this respect it reminded me of the Lanzmann documentary Shoah – very few actual images of the suffering.
Most holocaust films I’ve seen have reduced me to tears, this one did not, but it is arguably more horrific than all the others because we are shown what it takes for evil to manifest itself into what is otherwise a normal family, What caused it. What started it. And what didn’t do enough to stop it. It’s an impeccably directed film, and save for one possibly awry directorial choice which sets itself apart from the rest of the film, it is an absolute must see. And a must hear.
'The Zone of Interest' (2023)
Directed by Jonathan Glazer
Directed by Jonathan Glazer
Wow, That's some experience in a theatre. Jonathan Glazer (Sexy Beast, Under the Skin) has created a film about the Nazis and the holocaust quite different from any other I have experienced. It is set in the family home of key Commander Rudolf Hoss, who lives in a lovely house – right outside the walls to Auschwitz concentration camp. Glazer lets his audience see Hoss’ family routines, strife and happy moments, all the while next door his ideas and slaughterings are taking place. Immediately after the showing I was not sure what I had just seen and experienced. The film is artful but has moments of abstractness and odd quietness. After having digested it for a good few hours, I can safely say it’s one of the films of the year (already).
The key to this film is what we hear. The sound design is absolutely devastating, in that it induces the power of suggestion. We already know what has gone on in these camps, because we have seen countless films which have burned indelible images on our brains. Glazer piggybacks on this and lets us hear only the audio, while we see Hoss and his family enabling all of this terror. In this respect it reminded me of the Lanzmann documentary Shoah – very few actual images of the suffering.
Most holocaust films I’ve seen have reduced me to tears, this one did not, but it is arguably more horrific than all the others because we are shown what it takes for evil to manifest itself into what is otherwise a normal family, What caused it. What started it. And what didn’t do enough to stop it. It’s an impeccably directed film, and save for one possibly awry directorial choice which sets itself apart from the rest of the film, it is an absolute must see. And a must hear.
9.3/10
