The Zone of Interest

 

      Written and directed by Jonathan Glazer, this is an extraordinary historical drama in both it's inception and production. It is also quite possibly the most discomforting film I've ever sat through.

      Rudolf Hoss was the commandant of Auschwitz, responsible for the death of millions of Jewish prisoners during World War Two. He and his family lived in a villa directly outside the concentration camp walls. The story, filmed in and around the home (never in Auschwitz itself) tries to humanize Hoss and his family as they go about their daily life but it is impossible, as the sounds of the camp always linger in the background as well as the black smoke from the crematoriums. We follow their mundane life totally apathetic to what is taking place mere feet from their home. 

     Mr. Glazer's sound designer, Jonnie Burn's work is incredible. The sounds of gunfire, screams, barking dogs and other horrors are  unseen "characters" in the film. It's as if there is a second film running simultaneously fueled by the imagination of the viewer. The minimalistic score by Mica Levi is reduced to painful noise (with the exception of the prologue and epilogue) to add further discomfort.

     Christian Friedel plays Rudolf Hoss and Sandra Huller plays his wife Hedwig. Both do incredible work. They portray loving parents to their children and pets but are otherwise cold and unaffected by the world around them.

      Mr. Glazer's camera forces us to see beyond the ordinary life that hides a horrific brutality. While atrocities are never seen, the film is deliberately unsettling to watch and yet, it's an important testimony to the horrors of the holocaust.

      Post script (not seen in the film)- After the war, Rudolf Hoss was found guilty of war crimes and was hanged outside the very gates of Auschwitz.