This years Oscar winner for best international Feature is brought to you by Jonathan Glazer, who previously directed films like Sexy Beast and Under The Skin. While there is some flair here, this couldn’t be more different. A24 distributed this, and it is tough to look away from. 30 years since Schindler’s List, and we are just getting another truly masterful but frightening look at one of the worst periods in our history.
Glazer captures this through his determination to show the life of a Commandate’s family that lives just outside the death camp of Auschwitz, and how their mundane lives and callous attitude adjacent to atrocity contrasts in a nightmarish reality.
Whether one of the kids finds human remains while playing outside, or the wife finds diamonds hidden in her toothpaste, this family never asks themselves if they are on the right side of anything. There is one moment where the husband, a Nazi officer, calls home to his wife after attending a nazi (dinner party?) where he jokes about how the whole time he was thinking about the challenges that particular room would have if he had to gas everyone in it.
And, Glazer is able to do all he needs to in a relatively average runtime. this isn’t an art film that goes on for all of eternity, it is able to put all of its thoughts together and revolt you in a normal window of time. The pacing is excellent, and the only problem I have is Glazer seems to think he needs something he really doesn’t. There’s a moment that flashes forward in time to present day, and it breaks his narrative. I’m sure he had his reasons, but his Zone is already disturbingly effective even without it. It’s like putting a cherry on top of a fancy chocolate cake. I guess it technically can be there, but i would have still enjoyed the cake even if it wasn’t there.
Of course enjoy is a strong word. However, I did enjoy this narration, which actually takes time at the end to list every person involved by letting them all read their own name. Laura Post does the primary narration, but several other vocal talents are used to make sure the German to English translation has the appropriate weight. The written text for the narrator is also really solid, as it is able to not just highlight that which is horrifying, but also the cinematic touches Glazer brings that ultimately is why he received an Oscar nomination. He has a scene where he shot the footage in night vision, which is seamlessly mentioned when we enter and when we exit it.
Truthfully, the Zone Of Interest is one of the best films of 2023, but it also might be the most important. Not only does it remind us of what anti-semitism looks like on a large scale, but also how unchecked power can lead to a disturbing period in history that can never be erased or forgotten. as the world grapples with multiple conflicts, and dystopian dictators, it is through filmmakers like Glazer and films like The Zone Of Interest that we are reminded that our history is already full of horrors that need not be repeated.
Final Grade: A
