The Zone of Interest come to me from comments on social media about its quiet nature and the juxtaposition of the peaceful Commandant's family life contrasted with their indifference at the horrors of Auschwitz Camp being played out beyond their cosy walls.
The film starts with occasional silences and blank screens which sets you up for what you're about to experience. There is music in this film and pleasant conversation but it doesn't prepare you for the sounds of an active Concentration Camp being run at it's height in the 1940s and hearing the gunshots, screams, shouting, motorbikes being revved, children wailing. Also the views, omnipresent of the watchtowers, chimneys betching black smoke, the fires lighting the night sky and the sight/sound of trains bringing thousands to their deaths on a daily basis.
Glazer doesn't show you the camp in action so much, but it's in the imagination.
The story is a simple one - Hoss and his family of wife Hedwig and children (5 in total) making the most of their lives. Hedwig comes across as harsh and especially mocking in some cases. The shocking part is that she believes she has a good life next to a camp where death is being dealt out on a daily basis. There is no handwringing or remorse about her husband's job. He's basically left to it.
This is a study in the banality and indifference of Nazi controlled society of the 1940s. Clothes are taken from prisoners and diamonds are also found in toothpaste. The Jews here are treated indifferently with their goods sold for auction.
What makes this film is not the modern concept of horror - most people know what went on at places like Auschwitz, from documentaries - but the sound, ever present. Hedwig's mother is awoken from her sleep by gunfire and crying. It is probably the best film of its type, but either watch in a good cinema with good sound or watch through earphones.
The film starts with occasional silences and blank screens which sets you up for what you're about to experience. There is music in this film and pleasant conversation but it doesn't prepare you for the sounds of an active Concentration Camp being run at it's height in the 1940s and hearing the gunshots, screams, shouting, motorbikes being revved, children wailing. Also the views, omnipresent of the watchtowers, chimneys betching black smoke, the fires lighting the night sky and the sight/sound of trains bringing thousands to their deaths on a daily basis.
Glazer doesn't show you the camp in action so much, but it's in the imagination.
The story is a simple one - Hoss and his family of wife Hedwig and children (5 in total) making the most of their lives. Hedwig comes across as harsh and especially mocking in some cases. The shocking part is that she believes she has a good life next to a camp where death is being dealt out on a daily basis. There is no handwringing or remorse about her husband's job. He's basically left to it.
This is a study in the banality and indifference of Nazi controlled society of the 1940s. Clothes are taken from prisoners and diamonds are also found in toothpaste. The Jews here are treated indifferently with their goods sold for auction.
What makes this film is not the modern concept of horror - most people know what went on at places like Auschwitz, from documentaries - but the sound, ever present. Hedwig's mother is awoken from her sleep by gunfire and crying. It is probably the best film of its type, but either watch in a good cinema with good sound or watch through earphones.
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