Cook review: ‘Zone of Interest’ offers superb perspective on the Holocaust
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It doesn’t take shocking images to create a disturbing film.
Jonathan Glazer (“Under the Skin”) proves that in his compelling “The Zone of Interest,” a Holocaust film unlike any other and one that is among the best of 2023 (it is now available for Quad-City viewers to see.)
‘The Zone of Interest’ (IMDb)
Based on the Martin Amis novel, this disturbing film doesn’t directly depict the horrors of Auschwitz. Instead, the audience hears in the distance what is happening while a German family continues its peaceful existence just outside the walls of a hell on earth.
Christian Friedel plays Rudolf Höss, commandant of the concentration camp. Viewers first see him with his wife Hedwig (Sandra Hüller) having a pleasant time in a field on a beautiful day.
It’s not that you see Auschwitz so much as that you know it is there. Sometimes the sound of gunfire rings out. An occasional scream can be heard in the distance.
The idea of the family living right next door to daily atrocities, and pretty much ignoring them as they chat, enjoy meals and play with their children – is as bloodcurdling as any horror-movie monster – indeed, the monsters in this film are human.
The family enjoys social gatherings. Their children play. In the distance, the audience can hear trains pull up to the concentration camp. Hedwig tries on a fur coat and, although never a word is spoken about its origins, viewers know where it came from … and so does Hedwig.
Composer Mica Levi enhances the atmosphere of mounting dread with a gritty score.
“The Zone of Interest” has earned Academy Award nominations for Best Picture, Director, Adapted Screenplay and Sound. Now is your chance to see why this film is one of the finest of the year and deserves to go down in cinema history as one of the finest Holocaust films ever made.
4 stars
At The Last Picture House, Davenport.
Running time: One hour and 45 minutes.
Rated: PG-13 for adult themes, language and sexual situations.
Watch the trailer here.
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