THE ZONE OF INTEREST - Review | Cannes Film Festival 2023

Jonathan Glazer's latest film is one of the most unique, bold, and original movies focused on the Holocaust ever made. By refusing to never show the victims and solely focus on the German perspective, Glazer is able to force and deeply startle viewers to imagine the cruelty occurring off-screen as our central characters go on with their everyday lives. Through impeccable master shots, subtle but striking sound work, and the minimally-used but chilling score. A new standard has been set for providing an experience that no other Holocaust film can capture. Glazer took his masterful manner of presenting fear of the unknown in Under the Skin (2013) and applied it to his latest masterwork whose themes and execution will make it bound to become timeless and resonating.

Still Courtesy – A24

Just outside the Auschwitz concentration camp during World War II, its commandent Rudolf Höss (portrayed by Christian Friedel) begins assembling everything to his new house with his children and wife, Hedwig Höss (portrayed by Sandra Hüller). As they continue building their dream life with their home, Rudolf Höss is called on by Nazi authorities for urgent changes.

It might sound transparent hearing what to expect from this film on a story level, but genuinely, nothing can prepare viewers for the experience that The Zone of Interest (2023) has to offer. A very similar phrase can be said about Jonathan Glazer’s previous films, most prominently for his cerebral sci-fi masterpiece, Under the Skin (2013). The type of filmmaker who elevates a film’s quality by the completely unique way he presents everything that relies heavily on letting visuals speak for themselves. Now, ten years after his last film, Glazer returns with a film that communicates the horrors of the Holocaust in such a haunting and original manner that hasn’t been replicated. For a sub-genre like Holocaust films where at this point, their similar tones and structures would make them seem redundant despite how well-executed they may be. The Zone of Interest (2023) vastly subverts this by asking the question, what if a Holocaust film was made that solely focused on the ones responsible for it?

Basically, the choice to never show any of the victims as viewers just follow Nazi officials and their family members living their lives right next to Auschwitz may sound like a radical approach to take. But honestly, the film makes it clear that something unconventional is coming from its opening featuring five minutes of a blank screen as Mica Levi’s chilling and nerve-racking score plays in the background. There’s an incredibly minimal amount of music used during the film. However, whenever it’s used primarily during the closing credits, it’s destined to stay stuck in viewers’ memory given how well it resembles the emotions conveyed throughout the film in such a tension-building and eerie manner.

This is still far from the more abnormal creative choices made throughout the film. From having mostly every frame set up as still wide shots with very mechanical dolly movements where viewers never know how long a shot will linger on the subjects to using an x-ray filter for certain scenes taking place during the night. At the same time, the character-driven structure that simply follows the daily lives of Nazis and their families would make it seem very repetitive, dull, and tedious. However, it ends up having the complete opposite effect where the intended emotions are communicated in a way that seems so effortless. By having all the screeching and grime being shown in the background or heard off-screen as the people viewers are forced to follow treat it as a daily normal occurrence. It makes it that much more horrifying and impactful to imagine the atrocities that would be occurring and the fact that the “protagonists” are doing nothing about it.

Thus, it’s an intentionally uncomfortable experience where those who’ve seen Under the Skin (2023) will clearly notice a similar style. That would be of providing so much intrigue and fear by executing sequences in such a vague and creative manner that leaves audiences to figure out what it all meant. This may not sound like a conventional and digestible film with an easy-to-follow structure. But it certainly makes it stand out from the vast amount of Holocaust films for how it challenges viewers' perceptions of what they normally would expect when seeing something with this subject matter. Glazer's absence from filmmaking for a decade is clearly missed since movies like these feel like they could only come from him. Many might complain about the detached feel of the film that never builds up to anything grand. However, the superbly distinct manner that The Zone of Interest (2023) executes and presents its themes and story will surely creep up on viewers and leave them far more disturbed with the inevitable comparisons to similar actions made during the present.

Verdict

10/10

Still Courtesy – A24