The Zone of Interest (film)

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The Zone of Interest (film)
Directed by Jonathan Glazer
Produced by <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
  • James Wilson
  • Ewa Puszczyńska
Screenplay by Jonathan Glazer
Based on The Zone of Interest
by Martin Amis
Starring <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
Music by Mica Levi[1]
Cinematography Łukasz Żal
Edited by Paul Watts
Distributed by <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
  • A24 (United States)
  • Gutek Film (Poland)[2]
Release dates
 <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
  • 19 May 2023 (2023-05-19) (Cannes)[3]
  • 8 December 2023 (2023-12-08) (United States)
Running time
 106 minutes[4]
Country <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
Language German[6]

The Zone of Interest is a 2023 historical drama film written and directed by Jonathan Glazer, loosely based on the 2014 novel of the same name by Martin Amis. A co-production between the United States, the United Kingdom, and Poland, the film centers on Auschwitz commandant Rudolf Höss and his wife as they strive to build a dream life next to the camp.[4] It stars Sandra Hüller and Christian Friedel in the lead roles.

The Zone of Interest premiered at the 76th Cannes Film Festival in 19 May 2023 to critical acclaim, winning the Grand Prix and the FIPRESCI Prize. It is set to be released in the United States on 8 December 2023 by A24. It was selected as the British entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 96th Academy Awards.[7]

Premise

The commandant of the Auschwitz concentration camp, Rudolf Höss, and his wife Hedwig strive to build a dream life for their family in a house and garden next to the camp.

Cast

Production

Development

After his previous film Under the Skin, Glazer dedicated two years to reading extensively. During his visit to Auschwitz, he was affected by the residence of the commandant Rudolf Höss. Glazer collaborated with the Auschwitz Museum and other organisations, and obtained special permission to access the archives, where he examined testimonies provided by survivors and individuals who had been employed in the Höss household. By piecing together these testimonies, Glazer gradually constructed a detailed portrayal of the individuals connected to the events. Unlike the book it was inspired by, Glazer used the real people involved in the events rather than using fictional names to emphasise authenticity. The cinematography used cameras embedded around the set, keeping the crew away and allowing the actors to improvise during filming. Violence is depicted without being overtly shown, creating a film that avoids graphic violence and "feels less exploitative".[10][11]

Glazer confirmed development of the project in 2019, with A24, Film4 Productions, Access Entertainment and House Productions co-financing and producing.[12]

Filming

Principal photography began in Auschwitz in the summer of 2021,[13][14] and continued in Jelenia Góra in January 2022.[15] The entire film was shot in Poland and Germany.[16][17]

Release

The Zone of Interest was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival,[18] where it had its world premiere on 19 May 2023,[3] and received a six-minute standing ovation.[19] The North American premiere occurred on September 1, 2023, at the 50th Telluride Film Festival.[20][21] It was also screened at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival.[22] It is scheduled to be released in the United States on December 8, 2023[23] and in Poland on February 9, 2024.[24]

Reception

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 95% of 76 reviews are positive for the film, with an average rating of 9/10. The website's critics consensus states, "Dispassionately examining the ordinary existence of people complicit in horrific crimes, The Zone of Interest forces us to take a cold look at the mundanity behind an unforgivable brutality."[25] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 95 out of 100, based on 22 critic reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[26]

Kevin Maher of The Times called it a "landmark movie, hugely important, that's unafraid of difficult ideas."[27] David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter called it a "devastating Holocaust drama like no other, which demonstrates with startling effectiveness [director Jonathan Glazer]'s unerring control of tonal and visual storytelling."[28] Donald Clarke of The Irish Times wrote, "Glazer may yet get in some trouble for taking such a formal approach to sensitive material. But, if anything, that self-imposed discipline – and utter lack of sentimentality – speaks to the profound respect he has for the subject."[29] Raphael Abraham of the Financial Times wrote, "Glazer has achieved something much greater than just making the monstrous mundane — by rendering such extreme inhumanity ordinary he reawakens us to its true horror."[30] Jonathan Romney of Screen International wrote that the film "eschews false rhetoric, leaving maximum space for the audience's imaginative and emotional response."[31]

David Ehrlich of IndieWire praised Glazer's camera process for instilling "a flattening evenness into a film where the lack of drama becomes deeply sickening unto itself."[32] Robbie Collin of The Daily Telegraph wrote, "Through painstaking framing and sound design, its horrors gnaw at the edge of every shot."[33]

In a 4-star review, Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian called it "a film which for all its artistry is perhaps not entirely in control of its (intentional) bad taste."[34]

Conversely, Italian film critic Davide Abbatescianni's review published by Cineuropa was less positive. He criticized the film for its disturbing atmosphere, which he found to be well-crafted but monotonous, and for the performances of the cast that he felt could not bring any change to the concept presented in a film that he thought lacked variety and remained stagnant for two hours.[35]

Writing for Worldcrunch, the German critic Hanns-Georg Rodek (de) wrote: "Here's the first question The Zone of Interest doesn't answer: is this ignorance? Of course it isn't. Is it conscious approval based on racist and nationalist delusion? I'm sure it is. Is it longing for an idyll in the midst of a situation perceived as threatening? Without a doubt. There are many attempts at an explanation, but they don't really interest Jonathan Glazer. Glazer describes the situation in what is possibly more oppressive than anything we've seen in Holocaust films before. It concentrates in one garden the attitude of an entire nation that wanted to know nothing."[36]

Awards and nominations

Award Date of ceremony Category Recipient(s) Result Ref.
96th Academy Awards TBA Best International Feature Film United Kingdom Pending [37]
Award Date of ceremony Category Recipient(s) Result Ref.
Cannes Film Festival 27 May 2023 Palme d'Or Jonathan Glazer Nominated [18]
Grand Prix Won [38]
FIPRESCI Prize Won [39]
Soundtrack Award Mica Levi Won [40]
CST Artist-Technician Award Johnnie Burn Won [41]

References

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External links

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