Even though he’s only directed four films, I think Jonathan Glazer is one of the most fascinating filmmakers working today. He’s always doing something different with his films and taking chances in terms of the tone and presentation of his films. Whilst I’ve not seen Birth, I found Sexy Beast and Under the Skin to be brilliant works and ones that haven’t really been duplicated. With The Zone of Interest, Glazer has made what may be the best film of his career and it’s a testament to its quality that I never want to watch it again.
The main element that makes this such a hard film to watch is it’s subject matter. The film is focused on the family of Rudolph Höss, the commandant of Auschwitz. The Holocaust is a delicate subject matter to cover in a film. When it’s handled well, you get works like Schindler’s List or Son of Saul, but when it’s not you get works that are insulting to history, like The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. It’s a subject that key figures in film have tried and failed to properly evoke, most famously the apparently disastrous production of The Day The Clown Cried. What Glazer does here though is a fascinating and horrifying way to depict the Holocaust, mainly by not depicting it. At no point in the film do we actually see inside Auschwitz whilst Höss is there. We see the ash coming out of the chimneys and trains going there, but we don’t see any of the horrors inside. We do hear them though and that gives the film a lot of its disturbing power. We hear screams, guard dogs, shots being fired and furnaces in use, but these are all in the background, they are never given focus throughout the film, and that makes for a much more horrifying film. It highlights the evils going on by de-emphasising it, demonstrating how people like Höss don’t give it any second thought and how him and his family have normalised everything that is happening.
It’s clear that everyone in the film knows exactly what is going on, with Höss’ wife Hedwig proudly wearing clothes taken from those sent to Auschwitz and one of his children showing off his collection of teeth. We even hear jokes being made about where the clothes are coming from, highlighting how callous everyone is. The manner of fact way in which these scenes are presented, aided by the excellent performances, especially from Sandra Hüller, helps add to the horrors. At no point is attention really given to what the characters think about what is happening at Auschwitz, instead focusing more on garden parties, vegetable growing, birthday celebrations and bedtime stories. The points where we do get a firmer presentation of Auschwitz, the focus is on the paperwork and architecture, such as a skin crawling scene where Höss discusses the capacity and efficiency of crematoria. Again, all of this is presented in a manner of fact way which only serves to highlight the horrors. The most we see outside of Höss’ worldview is one of his staff secretly leaving food at worksites, but even then we know that it’s only limited in how effective it can be in helping people.
The way Glazer and DP Lukas Zal choose to depict the Höss family is another key reason why the film works so well, in keeping them at a distance throughout the film. There are very few moments where the camera moves and almost no close ups. We barely get any direct views of the faces of the characters and the whole thing is static, focused on cutting from location to location rather than moving the camera. This adds to the detachment experienced, keeping us away from them like how they separate themselves from Auschwitz. In some ways, it’s a bit of an inverse of the way Son of Saul is filmed. There, the whole film was in extreme close up, showing Auschwitz in the margins to highlight how prisoners closed themselves off to shield themselves from the horrors. Here, the camera being at a distance has a similarly powerful effect. This is also aided by the incredible sound design, which has the sounds of Auschwitz be just loud enough so we know what is happening, but also know how the sounds can be silenced by Höss’ family. The music as well is excellent, even if it is used sparingly. Mica Levi is one of the best composers working today. Between this, Under the Skin, Jackie and Zola, they know how to use music to evoke the necessary atmosphere of each film. Their work here is only really used in an overture and over the credits, with it coming up in some moments during the film, but mostly their score is absent to highlight the rest of the sound design. The use at the start of the film though creates this horrifying, foreboding atmosphere, that helps to ready the audience for the unsettling experience that is to follow, almost sounding like screaming at points, there being a mechanical, droning feel that evokes the industrial nature of Auschwitz, adding to the horrors of the film.
Overall, The Zone of Interest is one of the few films that I never want to watch again, but that’s a testament to the incredible work on display here. By making the film so mundane and focusing on the ordinary aspect of Höss and his family, Glazer creates one of the most effective portrayals of the evils of the Holocaust I’ve seen on screen. Every aspect of this film is disturbing and horrifying to watch, precisely because none of what we’re actually seeing is horrific. This stands out as one of the most effective depictions of the Holocaust I’ve seen on film and should be vital watching to anyone.
My Rating: 5/5
Coogs Reviews 