Review:'The Zone of Interest' punches in the gut with the horrors of the Holocaust in an incredibly unique way

The Zone of Interest Review

The decisions taken by director Jonathan Glazer in his portrayal of the Holocaust in The Zone of Interest can be bestowed with an array of adjectives and emotions - ranging from controversial to brave, haunting to ponderous, aching to novel, and so on. 

In its essence, the film, if not anything else for many, consumes you and exhausts you by the momentous call it takes with characters, setting, background score and messaging. Having had the chance to see the film that releases in theaters in India on 1st March, beforehand, here's what I thought about it-

The Anticipation & The Imagination

Some may call it bravura while some may call it safe- for me, it is such a masterstroke to portray the unfathomable horror of the Holocaust without really seeing the visual treatment or brutality of it. It affirms the old belief - the anticipation is actually much more harrowing than the actual moment. You can also say this about horror films where it isn't the moment of jump scare that you're particularly scared of per se but it's the anticipation leading up to it. It's fitting we talk about horror films because The Zone of Interest is nothing less than one. 

As what seems to be a simple family of a Nazi - enjoying their time at the river, reveling the beauty of the flowers in their garden, you are attacked by (pun not intended) by the haunting sounds of what's going on beyond the walls of their idyllic house - noises of death camps of Auschwitz III. 

It's only till a few visuals later that a monochromatic, Sin-city like camera treatment shows a girl, who is seemingly a Polish local living near the camp, who takes her bike out each night to stage the fruit for the prisoners. It's implied that she and her family are also Jewish and hide in their homes to avoid detection from the S.S. officers with the flames of Auschwitz so nearby. One scene after the other, the horrors and the sheer casualness of the people in frame hit like a punch in the gut and almost make you feel sick where you continue to hear those horrifying screams, constant gunshots and barking dogs.

Bold Choices in Filmmaking Techniques

The Zone of Interest also makes some incredible choices in the technical department where narrow passages and walls act like a metaphor - a mere wall separating devastation and normalcy. The cinematography focuses on long shots of nothingness but still engulfed by the terror of background noises. The only redeeming moment arrives when the female protagonist's mother, who arrived at her home thinking it's paradise, just gets up in the middle of the night and leaves without even informing her own daughter, unable to take it anymore. 

The Horrors & The Casual Nature

Apart from the anticipation, it is the casual nature of being whitewashed and losing any compassion is what perturbs the viewer, and what's meant to be done. The climax crescendos to a fitting end highlighting the juxtaposition of this world that is just too real, brutal and gut-wrenching. The Höss family led by the Nazi couple – the commandant of Auschwitz, Rudolf Höss (Christian Friedel), and his wife, Hedwig (Sandra Hüller) – and their five children leave you with a plethora of emotions but mostly just agonizingly terrifying.

The Verdict

The Zone of Interest demands a lot from the viewer - patience, attention but most importantly, a strong heart; but this investment is worth it as the film might falter with its timeline and a few blank filler sequences but never stops shocking you and consuming you. A tale of the Holocaust that is different and probably the most gruesome without being visually barbaric - that's a rare feat to achieve, and The Zone of Interest does that with full effect.

Rating - **** (4/5)