The brilliant German actress Sandra Huller has said that her harrowing Holocaust film The Zone Of Interest highlights behavior that is not so far away from our current global political climate.
| The Zone of Interest | |
|---|---|
US theatrical release poster
|
|
Loosely based on the 2014 novel by Martin Amis, it was written and directed by Jonathan Gkazer.
The film, which is nominated for five Academy Awards including Best Picture, is a slice of life drama about a family living in a house and garden next to Auschwitz.
Queen of Auschwitz
Made by the Jewish British filmmaker Jonathan Glazer, who is also nominated for Best Director, it stars German actor Christian Friedel as Auschwitz commandant Rudolf Hoss, while Huller plays his wife Hedwig, who is referred to as the “Queen of Auschwitz.”
Hoss was a vet Nazi officer who was widely acknowledged as one of the architects of mass extermination during the Holocaust.
The film follows the mundanity of family life, never venturing inside the camp, while the background sound and the black smoke reflect the horrors taking place over the fence.
“And I realized that in the years before, although I don’t regret not taking on these roles because it’s a dangerous thing to get into this mindset, I had been a bit coward-ish before, when protecting myself from something that Jonathan pointed out isn’t so far away from us.
“It’s a decision to be a person like that. It is a decision that everybody can take, and that everybody can decide.
“Everybody can decide to be a decent human being, and everybody can decide to be a murderer. It is not something that happens to you.
“I found that really, really interesting. And I found it interesting to to investigate these things, what would it feel like.”
“We are living in difficult political times and I think art can help us, inspire us, to think about ourselves, our decisions and what can we do?
“I think political changes start very often in the family. What do you hear from your parents? How do you live? What do you observe as a child?
“It’s so important to see people who are capable of ignoring huge darkness, ignoring a horrible crime, to compartmentalize.”
Film as Warning
He added: “Jonathan said that it’s a warning. And I think this unique piece of art is a warning to all of us.”
Huller, who is currently nominated for an Oscar for her role in the French crime drama Anatomy Of A Fall, added: “This film shows even if you don’t feel like you’re doing something wrong, it can be wrong.
“We have to be careful with our impulses. How we are trying to keep our conveniences every day, on whose shoulders, on whose bodies, on what money? Is it worth it?
What’s Normal: Awareness of Everyday Decisions
“All these things that we think are normal, maybe aren’t. It really raises the awareness for our everyday decisions. You can have a nice garden and a family and at the same time be like the worst criminal.”
Credits:
Directed, written by Jonathan Glazer
Based on The Zone of Interest by Martin Amis
Produced by James Wilson, Ewa Puszczyńska
Cinematography Łukasz Żal
Edited by Paul Watts
Music by Mica Levi
Production companies: Film4; Access; Polish Film Institute; JW Films; Extreme Emotions
Distributed by A24 (US, UK)
Languages: German; Polish; Yiddish
Release dates: May 19, 2023 (Cannes Fest); Dec 15 2023 (US) Feb 2, 2024 (UK); Feb 9, 2024 (Poland)
Running time: 105 minutes
