The Zone of Interest

The Zone of Interest is a 2023 historical drama film written and directed by Jonathan Glazer, loosely based on the 2014 novel by Martin Amis, that based herself on the life that Rudolf Höss, Nazi commandant of Auschwitz concentration camp from 1940-43 must had in that time in his residence, just at the side of the camp. It premiered at the 76th Cannes Film Festival, winning both the Grand Prix and FIPRESCI Prize. For the 96th Academy Awards, it received 5 nominations (including Best Motion Picture, Best International Feature Film, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Sound) - for me best sound is almost a win, and have great chances for best international movie and adapted screenplay. Both Christian Friedel as Rudolf Höss and Sandra Hüller (from Anatomy of a Fall) as Hedwig Höss are exceptional in their roles. It focus on the idyllic live of the Nazi commander, in his house on the most normal life conditions, while the Holocaust and the killing machine he created works at just some meters of distance. The camera focus on medium and large plans, often showing the life of the dreams, but on the horizon we often see signs of the terror like smoke from the locomotives and from the enormous chimneys at the distance. We also have other signs, extremely subtle, like the sound of shouts and shots at the background, that only shows as more close in rare sequences. Other sequences like the girl, shoot in Infrared that left at night apples and fruits for the camp workers are just haunting (and the cause of one of the more aggressive shout sequence I mention above). Interesting enough is the view as close the view of the concentration camp is on the movie in the past, and in the present as a memorial. Both are unmistakable, but in either vision a far cry from what the reality must have been inside them. For the movie is a 8.6 from 10.0 / A- and a must see for 2024.