The Zone of Interest (#512)


The film I saw today, THE ZONE OF INTEREST, was interesting to say the least.  It was adapted from a novel by Martin Amis, whose books usually are more weird than interesting.  This one is about the commandant of the Auschwitz concentration camp, who lives with his wife and five kids in a house with extensive flower and vegetable gardens and greenhouses adjacent to the walls of the camp.  The film starts with almost five minutes of silence and darkness, with discordant music and finally opens to a scenic view of the river behind their home that also lasts nearly five minutes in silence.  Not a great deal happens in this German language subtitled movie other than the family living a very normal life despite hearing shooting and prisoners in pain and seeing and smelling the crematorium in action.  The fact that they do live normally is unsettling snd uncomfortable.  There are some twists and turns throughout, including the actions of one of their servants sneaking out at night and leaving food for the prisoners surreptitiously.  The commandant is promoted to be in charge of all concentration camps and must move to another location but his wife asks that the family be allowed to continue to live in the Auschwitz home and her request is granted.  The film was jointly produced by U.S., British and Polish entities and has already received numerous awards including five Oscar nominations.  92% of critics and 80% of audiences gave it a thumbs up.  You never see any of the prisoners or what goes on in the camp except at the end when the janitors are cleaning up the museum and you see displays of shoes and other belongings of the prisoners. 

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