Some things I noticed in this film: First the baby was always crying. I think that was very purposeful to show how the baby is aware of the noise, screams, and gunshots and hasn't regarded them as background noise the way the rest of the family has. The baby hasn't been brainwashed into normalizing this life yet and therefore reacts this way. Very powerful. I also think the dog was used to parallel the constant dog barking we hear from the camp, to show how like the people we are watching this dog is just going along with its life the way the family is, whereas the dogs we hear behind the fence barking are doing the same job as the SS. One another thing, I think the sequence of the people cleaning the museum was shown that way to make the viewer think "Wow how can you just go about your job surrounded by such horror" It is the same question you as the viewer ask yourself about the family. Everything is very intentional and purposeful in this film and that's why I think it's so brilliant and powerful
Thank you for your analysis. I just walked out of the theater feeling really stupid, not knowing what I just watched, because I didn’t catch on to the things you mentioned. Makes so much more sense now! The ladies cleaning at the end had me super confused. Youre analysis is spot on!
Yeaaaa right? I also felt that way about the little girl, a lot of nights when the dad came home she would be quitely sitting by herself not able to sleep. Same thing with the grandma who visited. I cant tell if this is something that actually happened, but the first time the gunshots were in the background when she got there as they are walkijg through the garden, you can tell she stops and like is realizing what that is. The dact that she was wondering if the woman who she used to clean for is in there says a lot too cause shes thinking about her. And also her just staring at the red smoke as they cremated the bodies in the middle of the night, you could tell she was not used to any of that at all and hadent been brainwashed
Great comment! I also think the baby crying was to show how the family (and us the viewer) we’re getting aggravated by the baby’s cries, but the sounds of death and pain were just background noise.
*I stopped reading Meagan as soon as you mentioned the baby. That is a load of crock and utter bullshit. Yeah the baby is crying because of an awareness to the crimes happening against Jews. Baby cannot discern noise like screams and gunshots as something negative or terrible. That’s NOT why the baby is crying. Babies cry under any environment so to reference the baby as some kind of theme to the movie is just beyond a stretch but flatout wrong. The presence of a crying baby is not important to the movie, other than to show how real and ordinary this Nazi family. Every family experiences a crying baby in their household at one point. It’s to show relatable this young family is not because the baby can sense violence and crime happening on the other side of their fence. So just leave the baby out.*
Scariest part of this film to me is when he’s at the Nazi party. I’d thought he’d be a big shot, the center of attention. But he’s just walking around aimlessly, not sure what to do or who to converse with. He’s just a small cog in that giant machine of depravity
The phone call afterwords where he casually tells his wife that all he was thinking of was how he could gas the attendants made it even more disturbing. The contrast between him being a genocidal monster and a loving father/husband who even treated his horse like his own child had quite the impact on me.
Best ever use of sound. It's not even close. I've never seen a film that blocked a scene on so many levels. It PERFECTLY communicates exactly what is happening in the external setting and inside the minds of every character. And then all of those juxtapositions and paradoxes just reveal so much about the nature of ideology. Incredible work, as in, I don't know how they figured it out from scratch.
I found the cuts and shooting in the house itself to be very bizarre. It made the house feel like a maze. Very “the shining”. I think that absolutely added to the coldness of the film. The ending is what really brought it home for me. Reminded me of the ending in Aftersun. Same “descent” into the darkness as well. Final note. That dog could never stay calm. Showed how in tune the animal was with the chaos of the setting, while the humans just went with it. The mom leaving was interesting.
The whole time I was having trouble with what the dog meant. It never seemed distressed, but rather very excited and anxious to get involved, so I don't think it was a contrast to the humans. Rather, I think it was a subtle dig at Mrs. Höss, (who represented the civilian population's worst instincts - those excited by the prospect of finally being top dogs) At the start of the film, the dog is obeying commands and faithfully following around someone. As the film progresses, the dog is becoming less and less obedient. When the grandmother arrives, Mrs. Höss needs to tell the dog "no" multiple times, and eventually the dog takes something that doesn't belong to it. That item is food off the table, prepared at Höss' orders to impress/host her mother. The dog leaps up and takes without permission, embarassing the hostess and simultaneously showing the hypocrisy of the Nazis getting rich off of the plundered property of murdered Jews. "Animals take things that don't belong to them" seems to be what she's saying, and in doing so is obliviously chastising herself. But her response to clash with the dog also shows her sinking to the level of the dog. Finally, the dog escapes without punishment because Höss can't be bothered chasing. The rules and will to enforce then are taking apart, leaving animal urges. The family dog's last appearance is when Höss (probably) cheats on her husband with the worker. The dog runs in after the tension and intent are established, but runs out immediately. This seemingly indicates that even the dog knows better than to stick around in that situation. The last dog at all to appear in the film is the schnauzer, which we learn was the breed of Rudolf's childhood dog. This is also the only dog he interacts with, seemingly indicating that he longs for a return to such times. However, his yearning for recognition keeps him sinking deeper and deeper into the abyss (stairwell at the end). I quite loved the use of the museum interjection to show that his only legacy will be that his nation will employ people to clean up after what he did, to dust the photographs of his victims, while he is buried ignominiously in shame. Plus it simultaneously communicates the immense scale of cruelty and murder that happened. No wonder he felt sick.
The only thing I didn't really like so much was the constant presence of the dog,it was in almost every scene in the house,it seemed like we were getting a metaphor or symbolism rammed down our throat,it became a little distracting to me. Just a very minor criticism of a truly brilliant innovative movie.
Rudolf Höss and his family lived on the grounds of Auschwitz in the villa you see in the movie (much of this movie was produced in conjunction with the museum now located on the grounds of Auschwitz). He was the commandant of Auschwitz for most of its operation. He was raised Catholic. He was captured by the British after the war, turned over to the Poles, tried and convicted and was hung on the grounds of Auschwitz, not far from his villa.
And his wife later moved to the USA and lived in the DC area until her death in the late ‘80s. So many Jews sought refuge in the USA during the Holocaust but were rejected and we let the Queen of Auschwitz in.
The mother of a girlfriend in high school lived as a young teen near a work/concentration camp in Germany. She swore the people in the town thought the political prisoners were there only to work and none of them had any idea of the slaughter going on for the last years of the war until the Americans liberated the camps. She only talked about it once and was emotional and defensive. I believe they all knew but with their lives threatened, knowing they too would die if they tried to help, or spoke against what was happening, they felt there was nothing they could do to stop the killings. About 400 prisoners were killed in 1945 when the camp was evacuated as Americans advanced towards Berlin. This subject has been a passion of mine since I was a kid and her experience gave me realistic insight into the personal lives and choices people had to make to survive. It's not easy to be brave and stand for your beliefs when everyone else follows government orders under threat of losing their job, home, freedom to travel, healthcare... to this day both she and her daughter follow government orders. The mother came to the US by marrying a US soldier she didn't really love in order to get out of Germany before it was divided. She had a decent life and was a good person but is now paranoid and afraid. It's really sad how the war still affects her. It sounds like the film style is reflecting the coldness and detachment of the officer, his view of the prisoners and camp from a distance while being able to life in an idyllic and scenic place, all the while this black, thick, greasy ash is just behind his home, his place of refuge, and if for some reason he showed any sign of doubt about what he was doing he and his family would be part of the smoke no longer separated by the walls of the house that couldn't protect him. Life is so fragile. What is the right thing to do?
Better to die for a good cause than a bad one....no? Thank you for sharing this. Its rare for surviving Germans to speak of their personal connection to their dark past. You sound like a compassionate human, and your insights are thought-provoking and intelligent. Thank you again.
I think what you’ve written was portrayed well with the character of the grandmother in this movie. She reveals how well she understands the situation of concentration camps when talking about the Jewish woman whose house she used to clean. She knew this Jewish woman was separated from her home and possessions, but had maybe not made the final mental leap about what was being done to the Jews in the camps. When she witnesses the chimney running at night, it becomes too much for her to deny anymore. She hasn’t developed the skills of denial and willful ignorance that her daughter’s family has.
I saw it last night and it absolutely blew me away. Easily one of the most deeply disturbing films I've ever seen, up there with THREADS and COME AND SEE.
THE ZONE OF INTEREST movie. Here are my thoughts after just watching "The Zone of Interest" and coming home. I had heard about the movie and watched many reviews. I had even heard about what the director said and felt he just demonized Jews while making a movie about the Holocaust and thus proves he is an ignorant fool. But I figured I must see this movie as it isn't maybe even about the family and more about the culture. So I went to see it. I was pleasantly surprised for the following points: 1) The father is damned. How? He stands to process the Jews from the train and thus is doing the work on the days that matter for a death camp called Bergen-Belsen & the general concentration camp of Auschwitz. They don't show it, but then the reason must be that they want to show you the idea of not damning him. You saw nothing. The director tipping his hat to his hate, so to speak. 2) The wife is damned. How? She finds a diamond in toothpaste and wants more. Why? Because in the processing there is very little the workers are allowed to take from the Nazi state as all is categorized and documented. Stealing from the Nazi state a diamond is her crime. She wants to do it more as taking toothpaste will not be cared about with the Nazi state and she knows the diamonds are untraceable anyway unless documented by being found by the workers in the camp. 3) The mother-in-law is damned. How? She realizes a woman is suffering (a Jew) who out bid her in an auction and is not worried about her. She shows no caring for her or any of them (Jews). What she hates is the burning of human flesh, the noise, and the proximity of it all to her personally. She never voices a concern for her grandchildren and their safety or upbringing. These are the three main characters and they all are damned. They are Nazis; they should be damned. Do all people who view this movie get this message? No. Some may think only of how they existed in a moment and chose and performed based on the stimuli that affected them. Of course they did. Don't we all? What is the lesson of the holocaust? Let us look at facts in regards to Triblinka and learn the lesson of the holocaust. In 16 months, 68 Germans with the help of 360 Jews slew over 600,000 Jews. The field had some evidence of buildings having been there. Nothing would have been known of the facts of Triblinka had not the Nazi state kept meticulous records of their accomplishments. What is the value of this movie? It does not show anything that would damn them. You only hear of the suffering and killing and know this man is in charge of all of it enough to be promoted to improving efficiency in all Nazi death camps and concentration camps throughout all of Europe and efficient enough to be brought back to the largest and most famous death camp and concentration camp in the history of the whole world: the death camp called Bergen-Belsen & the general concentration camp of Auschwitz. History records that the Nazis in trials after WWII and over the radio in South America while still free abroad after WWII stated aloud "Six (6) million was not enough." This is significant. It means the Nazis did not care about the fourteen (14) million killed in the holocaust. Why should Nazis care about slaying Poles, gypsies, and dissidents in Europe against the Nazi state? The HONOR and the GLORY of the Nazi mindset was in killing the people of Yahweh in large numbers. Americans today are now being asked in universities throughout our great land and through the speeches of the Democratic politicians within the Senate and Congress whether they will be antisemetic or if they support Israel. I find it absolutely amazing that the impetious for this question was Palestinians beheading Jewish babies or male children, burning alive Jewish mothers, and the fucking of Jewish female minors in cars as they drove them to Gaza Strip. It is abhorrent and explains why Yahweh's Holy Bible states upon Palestine being whole it melts in Isaiah 14:28-31 which is a time when Anti-Christ is identified for the whole world to know and this text states "None shall break rank" meaning Anti-Christ will melt inside Palestine whole not long after it is made whole per the text. Yahweh then declares in the Holy Bible He will destroy all nations off the face of the Earth for all nations will have been against Israel per Zechariah 12:3 and Zechariah 12:9. Favorite World War II Movies 1) Amen (2002) #15 2) Life is Beautiful (1998) #25 3) Notorious (1946) #26 4) Schindler's List (1993) #27 5) Pan’s Labyrinth (2006) - Spanish with English caption #30 6) Midway (2019) #31 7) Come and See (1985) - Russian with English caption #38 8) The Sound of Music (1965) #69 9) The Wind Rises (2013) #100 10) Darkest Hour (2017) #104 11) Secrets of War [Oorlogsgeheimen] (2014) - Dutch with English subtitle #119 12) Dunkirk (2017) #162 13) Hacksaw Ridge (2016) #253 14) Saving Private Ryan (1998) #256 15) Grave of the Fireflies (1993) #321 16) The Zone of Interest (2023) 17) The Grey Zone (2001) The Zone of Interest (2023) is not on my top 360 favorite movies, but it was a fascinating look at people living their lives and raising their kids near the most famous death camp and concentration camp: the death camp called Bergen-Belsen & the general concentration camp of Auschwitz. You could believe the trailer that is is just about wanting the best for your kids. How do you like that spin? Listen to the director compare Jews living near Gaza Strip to Rudolf Höss while accepting awards for his movie and you wonder if his mother had her genitals burned by Palestinians, his baby brother's head cut off, or his younger sister raped in the back seat of a car as Palestinians drive her to Gaza Strip for nights of fun at least more than a month, if Jonathan Glazer would change his mind.
It's been 10 years since the last time Jonathan Glazer written and directed a movie which was Under The Skin back in 2013. 10 years later, i'm glad he's back with The Zone of Interest as his next hit
DEAR LORD it really has been a decade since Under The Skin (a masterpiece in my opinion), still remember seeing that in a packed art house theater, everyone was silent and confused and a couple did fall asleep except for that ONE scene which jolted me to my bones. I hope we don't have to way another 10 years for his next film, and I haven't even seen Zone of Interest yet. I even love Birth.
Under The Skin was booed at Cannes.... This won the Palm d'Or. I absolutely love Glazer, I read the source novel but apparently it's not really an adaptation, same as Glazed treated Michael Faber,s novel for UTS. One of the best directors alive imho
Just watched it last night....I don't even know how to describe it. It was almost surreal, but given it's based on truth, my mind is blown. The move we see and the movie we hear are very different and both very bleak. It was genius.
The irony of oppressors living right next door to the oppressed. Reflecting upon our own humanity and capacity for evil is always welcome. Can't wait to see this movie.
Most terrifying hidden detail in the movie is that the scene where the older brother catch and grab the his own little brother in plant house and trapped in there and guarding him with a smile just like the jews are caught and ended up in chamber.this reflect the behaviour from his father or may be the camp
An incredible film. I can’t stop thinking about it. Will see it again if able. Tells us that the seed of evil and depravity is within us all. The sound at the end is mind bending. I am 78 years old and will remember this film to the end of my life. I hope it wins at least one Oscar.
Closest thing I can think of similar to this plot setting was The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. But the idea of never seeing anything but only hearing the concentration camp in Zone of Interest sounds horrifying.
Totally agree. I’m 55, I’m a total cinephile and have watched countless movies from all over the world. I’ve never seen a movie like this. Just watching an insipid and mundane family comprised of totally unremarkable people, living their daily lives with the constant constant CONSTANT rumbling sound of mass murder in the background. The pace was so slow and it was grueling to watch. And still I consider it a masterpiece.
It's that brought to life in a way I never even imagined could be done in a film. There are plenty of very sour notes throughout, but not one of them is misplaced.
IMO Glazer seems to be the frontrunner of who's getting that foreigner/auteur spot in Best Director at the Oscars that they've been having since 2018 - Pawlikowski, Bong, Vinterberg, Hamaguchi, Östlund. I can see him getting the spot by technical achievement alone.
There is a film that has a very similar premise as this called, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas from 2008. Bruno, an eight-year-old German boy lives with his family and his father who is an SS officer. Their home is beside an extermination camp near the back garden. The boy befriends another eight-year-old boy who is a prisoner in the camp.
Yeah but unlike that movie this one is actually based on a real family, specifically Rudolf Höss’ family. If you don’t know who Höss is he was the longest serving commander of Auschwitz and was the man who basically came up with the idea of gas chambers.
Expertly made film. Actually had me for moments sympathising with the family drama and then reminding myself that they were SS in charge if a death camp, shows how incredible some of the acting was.
Glazer is one of the very best working. I wish he made more films. When I heard about this premiering at Cannes I read the book upon which this is based (same name) by Martin Amis. It sounds like the movie takes only the general premise of the novel, which has a pretty definite plot and does have a POV character who’s an inmate/detainee. Your description makes it sound almost like a Terrence Malick film.
Being an Amis fan I read the novel in it's first paperback edition and you're right, it apparently bears little resemblance to it's source. Do you know it was all filmed with hidden cameras? The actors didn't know where they were....I think Glazer likes using them!
There are photos of this villa too and the film modeled it after that. These people actually lived like that and one of the children gave an interview a few years ago and could still barely fully come to terms that her father was committing mass murder as his everyday “job”.
This is making a "big russian culture " with the hands and minds of its soldiers in Ukraine. It was in Chechnya - the world closed his eyes, it was in Georgia - the world closed his eyes, it was in Syria - the world closed his eyes. I am Ukrainian. Military and civilian captured, kidnapped children, it's happening right now. I hope the world will help us to stop this war before it's too late.
the horror that is going on on the other side of the wall and we are expected to just carry on with out lives like nothing is happening... something happening in our time now even and we are expected to be pretend its not happening
the ending broke me: the scene in which Rudolf Höß stood on the stairs and checked whether he was seen choking and spitting because he was afraid that someone would realise that he was suffering from his work (suffering not from the atrocities, but from the pressure) and then the cut to the present day, when we see cleaners in the auschwitz museum and can only guess at the unimaginable extent of the holocaust through the remains of the victims, the true result of Höß' work. The contrast between, on the one hand, the fear of appearing as if one is not doing justice to his work and, on the other hand, the merciless systematic mass murder of millions of people, which is not even recognised as such by the perpetrators like Höß this scene shook me like nothing i have ever experienced in a film
Most terrifying hidden detail in the movie is that the scene where the older brother catch and grab the his own little brother and put in the plant house and trapped in there and guarding him with a smile just like the jews are caught and ended up in chamber.this reflect the behaviour from his father or may be the camp
I found the scene where hes on horse inside camp the most haunting bit, its only about 5-10seconds .hes looking around with poker face like a superviser in a factory while you see smoke around him with screaming of kids n adults.brutal
As an analog and obviously on a smaller individual scale, this film reminds me of Southern plantations before 1865; the owners family lived an idyllic life while unspeakable horrors were happening not 10 feet away and yet the owners family considered themselves good upstanding people… eerie.
@@michaelbouwman that really only happened in the most minuscule fraction of major plantations. Most were treated better and had better lives than any poor white people
@@RB-.- I'm curious where you get your information about the life of slaves as you don't sound like you have a vast or deep knowledge of how slaves were treated in the US and the diaspora.
The fact that people find it boring and even fall asleep during it, just proves the point of the film even more. Nothing happens, it could be a short film, don't bore me with evil :-) and that's how evil still prevails today. What a film.
What I take from this film is how we all just carry on while wars in Ukraine and Israel/Palestine rumble on. Not in our back yard but still. Should it be the norm that the world stops as a priority to stop any war?
It’s one not to miss in theatres too; the sound is such an important part of the experience - 99.999% home set ups could not replicate the textural presence of the sound. It’s an integral element - in some ways, the most important part of the film.
You need to read Hannah Arendt's Eichmann in Jerusalem to understand the tone and intention, truly psychopathy at its best, thats why the movie works, thats why it wouldnt have never ever been produced in America.
The phrase 'The Silence of the Lambs' personifies the horror of this film to me. They heard but they did not listen. Walls of division and hate must be taken down.
I don't get how anyone could fall asleep during the film. The sound alone kept me on my toes. You do have to work a little bit as the viewer, though. There are so many small details and nuances that you might miss if you're not 100% paying attention. Audiences these days are used to films handing them everything on a silver plate. It's refreshing to see a film that doesn't do that.
The kind of people that would fall asleep in this movie are not the kind of people that would be interested to go see a movie like this in the first place. I saw it in a very crowded theater and you could hear a pin drop.
Same interesting duality of Midsommar,and the fact that atrocities happened BY DAY,IN THE DAYLIGHT...that dualism scares the shit out of me,because of the "dark" paradygm,when the worse things happen in your neighbourhood,in.the.daylight....
Thank you for your honesty in this review. It’s nice to hear, especially when other reviewers are worshipping this film. I appreciate what it was attempting to do, however I certainly did not connect with it in the way that some critics might make you think it will.
Same. I get what they were doing with the horrors not being shown and the family just going about their lives. I’m questioning people’s understanding of history if they found this shocking
Part of the discussion about holocaust films has always been ‘are they allowed to entertain you’ - something Spielberg got some flak for. My personal opinion is that you are definitely not supposed to connect with this film. It ends abruptly in an unsatisfying way; with Hoss drunk and promoted. Again - that’s the point, but I think the things that make this film bleak and hard to connect to are exactly why it’s so accurate and effective
@@rollind2456it’s because we don’t see horrors like this depicted this way. We see the graphic content, we don’t see how mundane people can be about the slaughter of millions. That’s horrifying to a lot of people
No. It’s a limited theatrical release as it’s a small small budget movie. It will come to digital in the coming months if a theater near you isn’t playing. Not everything is a conspiracy you lunatic
Some things I noticed in this film: First the baby was always crying. I think that was very purposeful to show how the baby is aware of the noise, screams, and gunshots and hasn't regarded them as background noise the way the rest of the family has. The baby hasn't been brainwashed into normalizing this life yet and therefore reacts this way. Very powerful. I also think the dog was used to parallel the constant dog barking we hear from the camp, to show how like the people we are watching this dog is just going along with its life the way the family is, whereas the dogs we hear behind the fence barking are doing the same job as the SS. One another thing, I think the sequence of the people cleaning the museum was shown that way to make the viewer think "Wow how can you just go about your job surrounded by such horror" It is the same question you as the viewer ask yourself about the family. Everything is very intentional and purposeful in this film and that's why I think it's so brilliant and powerful
Thank you for your analysis. I just walked out of the theater feeling really stupid, not knowing what I just watched, because I didn’t catch on to the things you mentioned. Makes so much more sense now! The ladies cleaning at the end had me super confused. Youre analysis is spot on!
Brilliant take!
Yeaaaa right? I also felt that way about the little girl, a lot of nights when the dad came home she would be quitely sitting by herself not able to sleep. Same thing with the grandma who visited. I cant tell if this is something that actually happened, but the first time the gunshots were in the background when she got there as they are walkijg through the garden, you can tell she stops and like is realizing what that is. The dact that she was wondering if the woman who she used to clean for is in there says a lot too cause shes thinking about her. And also her just staring at the red smoke as they cremated the bodies in the middle of the night, you could tell she was not used to any of that at all and hadent been brainwashed
Great comment!
I also think the baby crying was to show how the family (and us the viewer) we’re getting aggravated by the baby’s cries, but the sounds of death and pain were just background noise.
*I stopped reading Meagan as soon as you mentioned the baby. That is a load of crock and utter bullshit. Yeah the baby is crying because of an awareness to the crimes happening against Jews. Baby cannot discern noise like screams and gunshots as something negative or terrible. That’s NOT why the baby is crying. Babies cry under any environment so to reference the baby as some kind of theme to the movie is just beyond a stretch but flatout wrong. The presence of a crying baby is not important to the movie, other than to show how real and ordinary this Nazi family. Every family experiences a crying baby in their household at one point. It’s to show relatable this young family is not because the baby can sense violence and crime happening on the other side of their fence. So just leave the baby out.*
Scariest part of this film to me is when he’s at the Nazi party. I’d thought he’d be a big shot, the center of attention. But he’s just walking around aimlessly, not sure what to do or who to converse with. He’s just a small cog in that giant machine of depravity
Yes. That overhead shot of the party in that golden room was practically a jump scare when it happened.
great observation
The phone call afterwords where he casually tells his wife that all he was thinking of was how he could gas the attendants made it even more disturbing.
The contrast between him being a genocidal monster and a loving father/husband who even treated his horse like his own child had quite the impact on me.
Just saw it and the sound design is RIDICULOUS (in the best way)
Best ever use of sound. It's not even close. I've never seen a film that blocked a scene on so many levels. It PERFECTLY communicates exactly what is happening in the external setting and inside the minds of every character. And then all of those juxtapositions and paradoxes just reveal so much about the nature of ideology. Incredible work, as in, I don't know how they figured it out from scratch.
I found the cuts and shooting in the house itself to be very bizarre. It made the house feel like a maze. Very “the shining”. I think that absolutely added to the coldness of the film.
The ending is what really brought it home for me. Reminded me of the ending in Aftersun. Same “descent” into the darkness as well.
Final note. That dog could never stay calm. Showed how in tune the animal was with the chaos of the setting, while the humans just went with it. The mom leaving was interesting.
The whole time I was having trouble with what the dog meant. It never seemed distressed, but rather very excited and anxious to get involved, so I don't think it was a contrast to the humans. Rather, I think it was a subtle dig at Mrs. Höss, (who represented the civilian population's worst instincts - those excited by the prospect of finally being top dogs)
At the start of the film, the dog is obeying commands and faithfully following around someone. As the film progresses, the dog is becoming less and less obedient. When the grandmother arrives, Mrs. Höss needs to tell the dog "no" multiple times, and eventually the dog takes something that doesn't belong to it. That item is food off the table, prepared at Höss' orders to impress/host her mother. The dog leaps up and takes without permission, embarassing the hostess and simultaneously showing the hypocrisy of the Nazis getting rich off of the plundered property of murdered Jews. "Animals take things that don't belong to them" seems to be what she's saying, and in doing so is obliviously chastising herself. But her response to clash with the dog also shows her sinking to the level of the dog. Finally, the dog escapes without punishment because Höss can't be bothered chasing. The rules and will to enforce then are taking apart, leaving animal urges.
The family dog's last appearance is when Höss (probably) cheats on her husband with the worker. The dog runs in after the tension and intent are established, but runs out immediately. This seemingly indicates that even the dog knows better than to stick around in that situation.
The last dog at all to appear in the film is the schnauzer, which we learn was the breed of Rudolf's childhood dog. This is also the only dog he interacts with, seemingly indicating that he longs for a return to such times. However, his yearning for recognition keeps him sinking deeper and deeper into the abyss (stairwell at the end).
I quite loved the use of the museum interjection to show that his only legacy will be that his nation will employ people to clean up after what he did, to dust the photographs of his victims, while he is buried ignominiously in shame. Plus it simultaneously communicates the immense scale of cruelty and murder that happened. No wonder he felt sick.
The only thing I didn't really like so much was the constant presence of the dog,it was in almost every scene in the house,it seemed like we were getting a metaphor or symbolism rammed down our throat,it became a little distracting to me. Just a very minor criticism of a truly brilliant innovative movie.
Did you know that weimariner is Sandra Hüller’s dog IRL? No wonder it stuck so close.
Maybe the most powerful movie about WWII without any words and without showing anything. Absolute masterpiese!
Rudolf Höss and his family lived on the grounds of Auschwitz in the villa you see in the movie (much of this movie was produced in conjunction with the museum now located on the grounds of Auschwitz). He was the commandant of Auschwitz for most of its operation. He was raised Catholic. He was captured by the British after the war, turned over to the Poles, tried and convicted and was hung on the grounds of Auschwitz, not far from his villa.
Tables turning - sounds Catholic
He also wrote an autobiography before he was executed.
@@ekkemoo bitch u retarded or sumn? wdym by that
And his wife later moved to the USA and lived in the DC area until her death in the late ‘80s. So many Jews sought refuge in the USA during the Holocaust but were rejected and we let the Queen of Auschwitz in.
There should be a follow up movie on his life after this. 😅
The mother of a girlfriend in high school lived as a young teen near a work/concentration camp in Germany. She swore the people in the town thought the political prisoners were there only to work and none of them had any idea of the slaughter going on for the last years of the war until the Americans liberated the camps. She only talked about it once and was emotional and defensive. I believe they all knew but with their lives threatened, knowing they too would die if they tried to help, or spoke against what was happening, they felt there was nothing they could do to stop the killings. About 400 prisoners were killed in 1945 when the camp was evacuated as Americans advanced towards Berlin.
This subject has been a passion of mine since I was a kid and her experience gave me realistic insight into the personal lives and choices people had to make to survive. It's not easy to be brave and stand for your beliefs when everyone else follows government orders under threat of losing their job, home, freedom to travel, healthcare... to this day both she and her daughter follow government orders.
The mother came to the US by marrying a US soldier she didn't really love in order to get out of Germany before it was divided. She had a decent life and was a good person but is now paranoid and afraid. It's really sad how the war still affects her.
It sounds like the film style is reflecting the coldness and detachment of the officer, his view of the prisoners and camp from a distance while being able to life in an idyllic and scenic place, all the while this black, thick, greasy ash is just behind his home, his place of refuge, and if for some reason he showed any sign of doubt about what he was doing he and his family would be part of the smoke no longer separated by the walls of the house that couldn't protect him. Life is so fragile. What is the right thing to do?
Better to die for a good cause than a bad one....no? Thank you for sharing this. Its rare for surviving Germans to speak of their personal connection to their dark past. You sound like a compassionate human, and your insights are thought-provoking and intelligent. Thank you again.
I think what you’ve written was portrayed well with the character of the grandmother in this movie.
She reveals how well she understands the situation of concentration camps when talking about the Jewish woman whose house she used to clean. She knew this Jewish woman was separated from her home and possessions, but had maybe not made the final mental leap about what was being done to the Jews in the camps.
When she witnesses the chimney running at night, it becomes too much for her to deny anymore. She hasn’t developed the skills of denial and willful ignorance that her daughter’s family has.
I saw it last night and it absolutely blew me away. Easily one of the most deeply disturbing films I've ever seen, up there with THREADS and COME AND SEE.
THE ZONE OF INTEREST movie.
Here are my thoughts after just watching "The Zone of Interest" and coming home. I had heard about the movie and watched many reviews. I had even heard about what the director said and felt he just demonized Jews while making a movie about the Holocaust and thus proves he is an ignorant fool. But I figured I must see this movie as it isn't maybe even about the family and more about the culture. So I went to see it.
I was pleasantly surprised for the following points:
1) The father is damned. How? He stands to process the Jews from the train and thus is doing the work on the days that matter for a death camp called Bergen-Belsen & the general concentration camp of Auschwitz. They don't show it, but then the reason must be that they want to show you the idea of not damning him. You saw nothing. The director tipping his hat to his hate, so to speak.
2) The wife is damned. How? She finds a diamond in toothpaste and wants more. Why? Because in the processing there is very little the workers are allowed to take from the Nazi state as all is categorized and documented. Stealing from the Nazi state a diamond is her crime. She wants to do it more as taking toothpaste will not be cared about with the Nazi state and she knows the diamonds are untraceable anyway unless documented by being found by the workers in the camp.
3) The mother-in-law is damned. How? She realizes a woman is suffering (a Jew) who out bid her in an auction and is not worried about her. She shows no caring for her or any of them (Jews). What she hates is the burning of human flesh, the noise, and the proximity of it all to her personally. She never voices a concern for her grandchildren and their safety or upbringing.
These are the three main characters and they all are damned. They are Nazis; they should be damned. Do all people who view this movie get this message? No. Some may think only of how they existed in a moment and chose and performed based on the stimuli that affected them. Of course they did. Don't we all?
What is the lesson of the holocaust? Let us look at facts in regards to Triblinka and learn the lesson of the holocaust. In 16 months, 68 Germans with the help of 360 Jews slew over 600,000 Jews. The field had some evidence of buildings having been there. Nothing would have been known of the facts of Triblinka had not the Nazi state kept meticulous records of their accomplishments.
What is the value of this movie? It does not show anything that would damn them. You only hear of the suffering and killing and know this man is in charge of all of it enough to be promoted to improving efficiency in all Nazi death camps and concentration camps throughout all of Europe and efficient enough to be brought back to the largest and most famous death camp and concentration camp in the history of the whole world: the death camp called Bergen-Belsen & the general concentration camp of Auschwitz.
History records that the Nazis in trials after WWII and over the radio in South America while still free abroad after WWII stated aloud "Six (6) million was not enough." This is significant. It means the Nazis did not care about the fourteen (14) million killed in the holocaust. Why should Nazis care about slaying Poles, gypsies, and dissidents in Europe against the Nazi state? The HONOR and the GLORY of the Nazi mindset was in killing the people of Yahweh in large numbers.
Americans today are now being asked in universities throughout our great land and through the speeches of the Democratic politicians within the Senate and Congress whether they will be antisemetic or if they support Israel. I find it absolutely amazing that the impetious for this question was Palestinians beheading Jewish babies or male children, burning alive Jewish mothers, and the fucking of Jewish female minors in cars as they drove them to Gaza Strip. It is abhorrent and explains why Yahweh's Holy Bible states upon Palestine being whole it melts in Isaiah 14:28-31 which is a time when Anti-Christ is identified for the whole world to know and this text states "None shall break rank" meaning Anti-Christ will melt inside Palestine whole not long after it is made whole per the text. Yahweh then declares in the Holy Bible He will destroy all nations off the face of the Earth for all nations will have been against Israel per Zechariah 12:3 and Zechariah 12:9.
Favorite World War II Movies
1) Amen (2002) #15
2) Life is Beautiful (1998) #25
3) Notorious (1946) #26
4) Schindler's List (1993) #27
5) Pan’s Labyrinth (2006) - Spanish with English caption #30
6) Midway (2019) #31
7) Come and See (1985) - Russian with English caption #38
8) The Sound of Music (1965) #69
9) The Wind Rises (2013) #100
10) Darkest Hour (2017) #104
11) Secrets of War [Oorlogsgeheimen] (2014) - Dutch with English subtitle #119
12) Dunkirk (2017) #162
13) Hacksaw Ridge (2016) #253
14) Saving Private Ryan (1998) #256
15) Grave of the Fireflies (1993) #321
16) The Zone of Interest (2023)
17) The Grey Zone (2001)
The Zone of Interest (2023) is not on my top 360 favorite movies, but it was a fascinating look at people living their lives and raising their kids near the most famous death camp and concentration camp: the death camp called Bergen-Belsen & the general concentration camp of Auschwitz.
You could believe the trailer that is is just about wanting the best for your kids. How do you like that spin? Listen to the director compare Jews living near Gaza Strip to Rudolf Höss while accepting awards for his movie and you wonder if his mother had her genitals burned by Palestinians, his baby brother's head cut off, or his younger sister raped in the back seat of a car as Palestinians drive her to Gaza Strip for nights of fun at least more than a month, if Jonathan Glazer would change his mind.
It's been 10 years since the last time Jonathan Glazer written and directed a movie which was Under The Skin back in 2013. 10 years later, i'm glad he's back with The Zone of Interest as his next hit
DEAR LORD it really has been a decade since Under The Skin (a masterpiece in my opinion), still remember seeing that in a packed art house theater, everyone was silent and confused and a couple did fall asleep except for that ONE scene which jolted me to my bones. I hope we don't have to way another 10 years for his next film, and I haven't even seen Zone of Interest yet. I even love Birth.
Under The Skin was booed at Cannes.... This won the Palm d'Or.
I absolutely love Glazer, I read the source novel but apparently it's not really an adaptation, same as Glazed treated Michael Faber,s novel for UTS. One of the best directors alive imho
Sorry, Zone won the Grande Prix, not the Palm D'or
@@vollsticks I thought Anatomy of a Fall won Palm, but Glazer only adapted like the first 5 pages of UTS. Still love it though.
Glazer is one of the most talented directors working today. Super underrated, incredibly intelligent, subtle and nuanced.
This sounds like a big "sound" contender for pretty obvious reasons, I can see it getting 4 or 5 nominations potentially
This aged beautifully. This Rafael guy is pretty smart
Just watched it last night....I don't even know how to describe it. It was almost surreal, but given it's based on truth, my mind is blown. The move we see and the movie we hear are very different and both very bleak. It was genius.
The older son inspecting the teeth is one of the most chilling things I've ever seen.
The irony of oppressors living right next door to the oppressed. Reflecting upon our own humanity and capacity for evil is always welcome. Can't wait to see this movie.
😂
@@clams_pachinko283Huh?
the little girl was always sleepwalking. you can feel the characters bodies rejecting what theyre a part of
Most terrifying hidden detail in the movie is that the scene where the older brother catch and grab the his own little brother in plant house and trapped in there and guarding him with a smile just like the jews are caught and ended up in chamber.this reflect the behaviour from his father or may be the camp
Perhaps the most provoking take on the topic since 'Son of Saul'
An incredible film. I can’t stop thinking about it. Will see it again if able. Tells us that the seed of evil and depravity is within us all. The sound at the end is mind bending. I am 78 years old and will remember this film to the end of my life. I hope it wins at least one Oscar.
Closest thing I can think of similar to this plot setting was The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. But the idea of never seeing anything but only hearing the concentration camp in Zone of Interest sounds horrifying.
That movie is a joke. The nazi band is literally playing jazz at one point.
Ll
@@henry_b1230Plus that's fiction.
This is based on real people. The commandant's villa was right next to Auschwitz I hence the wall you see.
Have you seen Conspiracy with Kenneth Branagh, Stanley Tucci, and Colin Firth among others?
Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is a terrible film which misrepresents the Holocaust & has been heavily criticised by historians from Auschwitz
Totally agree. I’m 55, I’m a total cinephile and have watched countless movies from all over the world. I’ve never seen a movie like this. Just watching an insipid and mundane family comprised of totally unremarkable people, living their daily lives with the constant constant CONSTANT rumbling sound of mass murder in the background. The pace was so slow and it was grueling to watch. And still I consider it a masterpiece.
Totally agree. The notion that people feel they need to be entertained by a film about these atrocities just baffles me. The mundane is the horror.
Reminds of Hannah Arendt's book " Banality Of Evil", can't wait to watch the movie
It's that brought to life in a way I never even imagined could be done in a film. There are plenty of very sour notes throughout, but not one of them is misplaced.
Me and the homies pulling up to The Zone of Interest
Its only sad if you belive the narrative 😎
@@CruelQuertosHuh?
@@CruelQuertosyou fucking twat my great grandfather was incarcerated in Buchenwald.
@@CruelQuertosso you're a holocaust denier? Sad
@@ckf36 that guy is a nazi sympathizer
IMO Glazer seems to be the frontrunner of who's getting that foreigner/auteur spot in Best Director at the Oscars that they've been having since 2018 - Pawlikowski, Bong, Vinterberg, Hamaguchi, Östlund. I can see him getting the spot by technical achievement alone.
Either him or Justine Triet
It's not about winning a stupid award. It's about waking up to how shitty we are
There is a film that has a very similar premise as this called, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas from 2008. Bruno, an eight-year-old German boy lives with his family and his father who is an SS officer. Their home is beside an extermination camp near the back garden. The boy befriends another eight-year-old boy who is a prisoner in the camp.
I immediately thought of that movie when I heard about this movie at Cannes
Yeah but unlike that movie this one is actually based on a real family, specifically Rudolf Höss’ family. If you don’t know who Höss is he was the longest serving commander of Auschwitz and was the man who basically came up with the idea of gas chambers.
Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is a terrible film, massively misrepresents the Holocaust, & has been heavily criticised by historians from Auschwitz
Expertly made film. Actually had me for moments sympathising with the family drama and then reminding myself that they were SS in charge if a death camp, shows how incredible some of the acting was.
Glazer is one of the very best working. I wish he made more films. When I heard about this premiering at Cannes I read the book upon which this is based (same name) by Martin Amis. It sounds like the movie takes only the general premise of the novel, which has a pretty definite plot and does have a POV character who’s an inmate/detainee. Your description makes it sound almost like a Terrence Malick film.
Being an Amis fan I read the novel in it's first paperback edition and you're right, it apparently bears little resemblance to it's source. Do you know it was all filmed with hidden cameras? The actors didn't know where they were....I think Glazer likes using them!
There are photos of this villa too and the film modeled it after that. These people actually lived like that and one of the children gave an interview a few years ago and could still barely fully come to terms that her father was committing mass murder as his everyday “job”.
This is making a "big russian culture " with the hands and minds of its soldiers in Ukraine. It was in Chechnya - the world closed his eyes, it was in Georgia - the world closed his eyes, it was in Syria - the world closed his eyes.
I am Ukrainian. Military and civilian captured, kidnapped children, it's happening right now. I hope the world will help us to stop this war before it's too late.
Same in Gaza
This will win best sound at the Oscar’s
We appreciate how well you articulate your own insights. Keep up the good work.
the horror that is going on on the other side of the wall and we are expected to just carry on with out lives like nothing is happening... something happening in our time now even and we are expected to be pretend its not happening
the ending broke me:
the scene in which Rudolf Höß stood on the stairs and checked whether he was seen choking and spitting because he was afraid that someone would realise that he was suffering from his work (suffering not from the atrocities, but from the pressure)
and then the cut to the present day, when we see cleaners in the auschwitz museum and can only guess at the unimaginable extent of the holocaust through the remains of the victims, the true result of Höß' work.
The contrast between, on the one hand, the fear of appearing as if one is not doing justice to his work and, on the other hand, the merciless systematic mass murder of millions of people, which is not even recognised as such by the perpetrators like Höß
this scene shook me like nothing i have ever experienced in a film
Most terrifying hidden detail in the movie is that the scene where the older brother catch and grab the his own little brother and put in the plant house and trapped in there and guarding him with a smile just like the jews are caught and ended up in chamber.this reflect the behaviour from his father or may be the camp
I found the scene where hes on horse inside camp the most haunting bit, its only about 5-10seconds .hes looking around with poker face like a superviser in a factory while you see smoke around him with screaming of kids n adults.brutal
As an analog and obviously on a smaller individual scale, this film reminds me of Southern plantations before 1865; the owners family lived an idyllic life while unspeakable horrors were happening not 10 feet away and yet the owners family considered themselves good upstanding people… eerie.
Unspeakable horrors? What, people picking cotton? The horroooooor!
Tell me you’re an ignorant a-hole without telling me…
and the rapes, people being whipped to death, chained, lynched from trees, that sort of thing@@EdWard-ie5wn
@@michaelbouwman that really only happened in the most minuscule fraction of major plantations. Most were treated better and had better lives than any poor white people
@@RB-.- I'm curious where you get your information about the life of slaves as you don't sound like you have a vast or deep knowledge of how slaves were treated in the US and the diaspora.
After Past Lives, this is the next movie I'm waiting to watch.
The fact that people find it boring and even fall asleep during it, just proves the point of the film even more. Nothing happens, it could be a short film, don't bore me with evil :-) and that's how evil still prevails today. What a film.
This is going to win for best sound.
Highly relevant movie to come out now
What I take from this film is how we all just carry on while wars in Ukraine and Israel/Palestine rumble on. Not in our back yard but still. Should it be the norm that the world stops as a priority to stop any war?
The concept of this is really intriguing. I think i will check it out when it comes to theatres
It’s one not to miss in theatres too; the sound is such an important part of the experience - 99.999% home set ups could not replicate the textural presence of the sound. It’s an integral element - in some ways, the most important part of the film.
I felt the trailer gave off an impression. I thought the Shining lol.
Just saw this film and it was incredible and transporting. Having visited Auschwitz last year made it even more impactful.
The Smoke from the burning of people is very terrifying/hellisch. There is "evil" creeping into every scene of the movie.
my dumbass thought i was hearing tennis being played in the background 😭 i forgot what movie i was watching
💀
I guess Americans do not know Rudolph Hoss... many reviews speak about him as just one of those camps' commandants
Us Americans were never taught about individual Nazis except for Hitler & Himmler.
You need to read Hannah Arendt's Eichmann in Jerusalem to understand the tone and intention, truly psychopathy at its best, thats why the movie works, thats why it wouldnt have never ever been produced in America.
Good for you for saying both what you like and what others might not like.
Anybody know when they gonna release the trailer?
Good review, of a landmark, ingenuous filmmaker. His films are impossible to forget, and definitely hard to watch.
The phrase 'The Silence of the Lambs' personifies the horror of this film to me. They heard but they did not listen. Walls of division and hate must be taken down.
I don't get how anyone could fall asleep during the film. The sound alone kept me on my toes. You do have to work a little bit as the viewer, though. There are so many small details and nuances that you might miss if you're not 100% paying attention. Audiences these days are used to films handing them everything on a silver plate. It's refreshing to see a film that doesn't do that.
The kind of people that would fall asleep in this movie are not the kind of people that would be interested to go see a movie like this in the first place. I saw it in a very crowded theater and you could hear a pin drop.
The lighting here is amazing btw
Ironic as the entire movie has no cinematic lighting at all.
Such a masterpiece film. This movie stucks in my head all the time. 💯
I won’t be seeing a second time.
Thanks for the review, Shea
My most anticipated movie of 2023
Nominated for best picture in 2024 Oscars.
Maybe pulling a Triangle of Sadness type Oscar hype?
Foreign language and Please Sound
Hou's City of Sadness is somewhat similar with long take stationary cameras, less precise like Kubrick
Hello , I am from India . Want to watch this movie , please provide me the movie link
Same interesting duality of Midsommar,and the fact that atrocities happened BY DAY,IN THE DAYLIGHT...that dualism scares the shit out of me,because of the "dark" paradygm,when the worse things happen in your neighbourhood,in.the.daylight....
The movie just reviewed an MPAA rating of PG-13… what…?
The film depicts evil without having to be graphic. Still delivers strongly regardless of rating .
You know it's a 'normal' life when they have a concentration camp in their backyard
Exactly
You've never really seen anything have you?
Strange there's still no trailer
Refreshing though. It's good to build anticipation given today's over-saturated market.
How did you watch it? It's not been released yet?
He said he saw it at TIFF (the Toronto International Film Festival). Lots of reviewers see movies way before release that way.
Haunting
I saw this and it’s a masterpiece
Is this out yet?
Then watch Good, Under the Skin, Black Book, The Counterfeiters, Conspiracy, Cabaret and The Boy in the Striped Pajamas.
You spoiling the movie saying no spoilers
Thank you for your honesty in this review. It’s nice to hear, especially when other reviewers are worshipping this film. I appreciate what it was attempting to do, however I certainly did not connect with it in the way that some critics might make you think it will.
Same. I get what they were doing with the horrors not being shown and the family just going about their lives. I’m questioning people’s understanding of history if they found this shocking
Part of the discussion about holocaust films has always been ‘are they allowed to entertain you’ - something Spielberg got some flak for. My personal opinion is that you are definitely not supposed to connect with this film. It ends abruptly in an unsatisfying way; with Hoss drunk and promoted. Again - that’s the point, but I think the things that make this film bleak and hard to connect to are exactly why it’s so accurate and effective
@@rollind2456it’s because we don’t see horrors like this depicted this way. We see the graphic content, we don’t see how mundane people can be about the slaughter of millions. That’s horrifying to a lot of people
If you want to see something like this again simply watch what's happening to the civilian population in Gaza.
Youre called “The Film Drunk”- Where’s your beer?
Go watch Under the skin if you want to see another movie (by the same director) like you have never seen before. Scarlett Johannsens finest hour
Five stars. Any other rating for this film sure looks like cowardice to me.
Why is it so hard to find a theatre that shows this movie? I just can't watch it in theatre or online. Conspiracy theory, fucking conspiracy theory?
Axiomatics, this must be a 'badge of honor'. Good things are usually hidden, even forcefully...
No. It’s a limited theatrical release as it’s a small small budget movie. It will come to digital in the coming months if a theater near you isn’t playing. Not everything is a conspiracy you lunatic
YAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSS!
Go to Gaza right now. You'll see plenty like this.
MOVIE OF THE YEAR. ONE OF THE MOST VIOLENT FILM EVEN THO VIOLENCE ISNT SHOWN I VE EVER SEEN. OST INFCKNSANE. THE CAST KILLED IT. AND GLAZERS BEST YET.
What about “the Boy in the Striped Pajamas”? Sounds similar.
Indeed.
Hundreds and hundreds
You say this like 5 times per year lol .
I MEAN IT THIS TIME LMAO
Vote Blue! That's what you say!
Not as good as Godzilla minus one, the real best movie of the year.
Are you crazy?... This is not the context. Please pay respect.
Experimental needs to be tempered by shorter length. A feature film that's experimental may be a better short.
I wishhhh it was bit more graphic I would’ve given it a 5/5
This movie shows how a vegan feels in a carnist world pretty good 👍
Omg you giving away the plot too much so I’m going to STOP watching. Thumbs down.
There really isn’t any plot. Don’t watch a video about it if you don’t want spoilers.
i'm behind the game and just now hearing about this.....where the hell can you watch this??