🍿87: The Zone of Interest

This week, banned chocolate adverts and Big Foot 👣

“Stern, if this factory ever produces a shell that can actually be fired, I'll be very unhappy.”

~ Schindler’s List, 1993

The BAFTAs…

I can’t believe it’s been a year since Richard E. Grant drove the Batmobile to the BAFTAs (and I’m chastising myself for not calling it the Baftmobile!) in what was an incredibly cringe-worthy opening skit…

There was a similarly cringy opening sketch this year, as host David Tennant sought for a celeb friend to look after Michael Sheen’s dog ‘Bark Ruffalo’. He did, however, have some decent jokes after the roleplaying.

There were surprise appearances from Michael J. Fox (who was met with a standing ovation) and a social media prankster who stood on stage alongside the cast and crew of Oppenheimer as they accepted the award for Best Film.

Speaking of Oppenheimer, Christopher Nolan’s latest film triumphed by taking home the most awards (seven in total), including Best Director and Best Leading Actor. The award for Best Leading Actress went to Emma Stone for Poor Things. This week’s feature The Zone of Interest won three awards, including Outstanding British Film, Best Film not in the English Language and Best Sound.

Click here for the full list of winners at this year’s BAFTA’s.

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Now for the headlines:

• A study has shown the number of female leads in Hollywood films to be at a 10-year low. Read more.

• Sam Mendes has announced that he’ll be directing not just one Beatles documentary, but one for each Beatle. Read more.

• Yorgos Lanthimos is looking to remake the South Korean comedy Save The Green Planet, potentially with Emma Stone. Read more.

• And finally, Martin Scorsese steps out of the directing chair to take on an ‘intense’ acting role in Julian Schnabel’s In the Hand of Dante. Read more.

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Upcoming Releases

American Dreamer

UK: 15 March // USA: 8 March

Economics professor Phil (Peter Dinklage) finds his dream of owning a home unattainable. Until, that is, lonely widow Astrid (Shirley MacLaine) offers her sprawling estate for pennies in a deal that turns out too good to be true.

Sasquatch Sunset

UK: 12 April // USA: 12 April

Deep in the misty forests of North America, a family of Sasquatches — played by Riley Keough, Jesse Eisenberg and Nathan Zellner — find themselves on a collision course with the ever-changing world around them.

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Fact of the week

In the 24 years since the release of Sexy Beast, the film that put director Jonathan Glazer in the limelight, Glazer has only released two feature films (not including The Zone of Interest): Birth and Under the Skin.

So how’s he been paying the bills? By directing adverts of course! Some of the adverts Glazer has produced include the famously auteur surfer ad for Guinness in 1999, and another ad that outraged the marketing execs at Cadbury — so much so that it never aired.

Featuring French actor Denis Lavant dressed as the devil and throwing Cadbury Flakes at ‘damsels’ dressed in négligée, it’s strange and very suggestive for a family-friendly brand. No wonder it didn’t air.

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Review: The Zone of Interest

Star rating:

3.5 (out of 5)

Where to watch: 

USA: In cinemas and online

UK: Only in cinemas

Runtime:

1hr 45m

Director:

Jonathan Glazer

Blurb: 

Auschwitz commandant Rudolf Höss (Christian Friedel) and his wife Hedwig (Sandra Hüller) strive to build a dream life for their family in a house and garden beside the camp.

The review (NO spoilers):

Loosely based on the book by Martin Amis, winner of three BAFTAs and nominated for five Oscars, including Best International Feature Film, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Picture, The Zone of Interest takes an alternative approach to depicting the Holocaust in cinema.

With little drama and even less appetite for sensationalising the horrors of Auschwitz, this is an astoundingly minimalist film. The film focuses instead on the relationship between Rudolph Höss (Christian Friedel) and his wife Hedwig (Sandra Hüller), and the ‘home’ they have built on the edge of the camp.

Other than the shouts, screams and gunshots heard over the wall of the Höss compound, there are no visual depictions of violence. Of course, we know what happens in the camp without needing to be shown and the walls do little to shield the audience of the horrors they hide.

In terms of cinematography, what really stands out is that almost every shot is static: there are no zooming, panning or tracking shots. This is most noticeable when Höss is turning the lights off around the house before going to bed. He walks around corners and in and out of rooms, but the camera doesn’t follow him — it just jumps to a different angle. In an interview with The Telegraph director Jonathan Glazer said that this was to replicate the look of reality TV — the film’s “aesthetic compass”.

While there is a ‘fly-on-the-wall’ like quality to the film, this also makes it feel mechanical and precise, much like Höss’s himself. However, Glazer has said that his intention here was to avoid empowering the characters, in hope that the “historical distance” will “collapse”. So rather than have audience’s watch in horror and say ‘Look at what they did!’, Glazer wants audiences to say ‘Look at what we do’.

While it’s not a film that I particularly enjoyed, I have a lot of respect for what it achieves. For example, it relies almost completely on subtext, and yet manages to be poignant and evocative.

It’s not Schindler’s List — it’s something else entirely.

Scroll down for to see what’s in the next issue.

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If you liked The Zone of Interest…

Anatomy of a Fall

2023 | UK: Prime Video (£3.49) // USA: Prime Video ($5.99)

First off, Anatomy of a Fall isn’t about the Holocaust and it has virtually nothing in common with The Zone of Interest other than casting Sandra Hüller in a leading role and sharing several award nominations. However, I don’t know many people that would watch a film about the Holocaust and immediately want to watch another.

The only real reason that this film is being recommended this week, is because it was very good. Simple as that. Enjoy.

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In the next issue:

Wicked Little Letters

UK: 23 February // USA: 5 April | Watch the Trailer

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