So admittedly, I had not heard about this movie until some weeks ago. My girlfriend, who is Polish, had learned about it somewhere, and she told me that she wanted to see it. We watched the trailer, and it did indeed look intriguing, albeit unconventional.
The thing is, at first, it was only playing in theaters far from us. Neither of us wanted to go all the way to New York City to see a movie, so we put it on the backburner. The next time we checked, it was playing much closer, in New Jersey, at Rockaway (presumably by the mall). That I was willing to go to, and so we planned to make a date of it. When next I checked, it was playing even closer, right in Princeton, which is fairly close to us (less than 14 miles). We picked a day (earlier today), and went ahead and saw the movie.
Now, I am giving this movie review, but I will not warn about spoilers. Frankly, this is not a movie where you need to be warned all that much about spoilers, because it is not that kind of a movie. It basically takes place mostly in a house, located just outside of the walls of Auschwitz. And it focuses on everyday interactions within the family, without all that much going on. That probably sounds strange, but I will explain.
Christian Friedel gives a chilling performance as Rudolf Höss, and his wife Hedwig is played very convincingly by Sandra Hüller. The power of their performances is in the subtlety. Often times, you see Nazis portrayed, understandably, as monsters. What makes this movie chilling is how deliberately they are portrayed as very human, even boring in certain respects. Indeed, if you did not know that this was about Auschwitz, or did not pick up on some of the subtleties (or perhaps were unaware of the history), you might think that this is a movie where nothing really happens at all.
And that is what I really liked about it. Because it gives you a very different perspective on the undeniably horrific chapter of Auschwitz, and the Holocaust more generally. We see the family of Rudolf Höss, the commandant of Auschwitz, living in a comfortable - even almost luxurious - home literally right next to the camp, close to the watch tower and literally right next to the gates, with the barbed wire visible on top. We see the family enjoying a luxurious lifestyle, for the most part, which we find out is better than anything they had been privy to before. It is clearly implied that this high standard of living that they enjoy so much clearly is the result of Höss's position at the now infamous death camp right next door. We hear them casually talking and even laughing about "Canada," which was a code word for storage facilities of stolen goods. We see Rudolph's wife Hedwig trying out a new fur coat, clearly recently stolen from some of the Jews taken to Auschwitz. They talk about how once, they found diamonds in toothpaste, and they tell laughingly tell each other how clever the Jews are.
Repeatedly, we see just how beautiful and lush and large their garden is, which serves as a symbol for how their pristine lifestyle comes at the expense of those they have killed. It is clearly implied that the garden is lush for a reason, and that far from being picturesque and idyllic, it is in fact a horror. Indeed, their dream life is a result of the forced slavery which they subject others to, as the only Jews shown in this movie are quiet servants, almost exclusively in the background.
The discussions are eerily normal. They do not sound remarkably different from conversations that most families in Western countries regularly have. The mother loves the home, loves that standard of living, and how it seems so healthy and good for the children. Rudolf Höss is pleased that he is finally receiving real recognition for his work ethic and efficiency, and receiving promotions. We also see them get in an argument about the bureaucracy, which is about to take them away to another camp, against their wishes.
I remember when younger, that my father and I discusses the Holocaust. And what he said was that the real horror of the Holocaust was the bureaucratic nature of it. Often times in movies, you see the worst crimes imaginable done in the heat of the moment. Sometimes, you even see the ones responsible feeling remorse for it. That was what makes this movie so different, and really, so chilling. Because while the crimes against humanity, the mass murder of Jews and others literally right next door, and the mass incarcerations of tens of thousands of people at a time is literally right next door, you almost get the sense that these people hardly notice it. The yells and occasional gunshots serve as background noise. And the ones responsible for carrying out the Holocaust - this mass murder of "undesirables" in Europe, particularly Jews - talk about how greater efficiency can be achieved, much like corporations talk matter of factly about greater efficiency and pursuing greater profits today. You see people being congratulated on promotions and recognition for good work in ways that are not all that different than today. Only they are being recognized and promoted for their part in the bureaucratic mass murder of millions of people! These enormous and horrifying crimes are not done in the heat of passion, but with a cold, unfeeling, bureaucratic approach. And that is what makes this movie so chilling. That's what makes the Holocaust even more horrifying, when you really think about it.
Now, this is an unconventional movie. Again, it is a bit slow, especially if you do not get all of the references. There definitely are signs that something is really, really wrong, but you almost have to look for those signs. It is a movie about the Holocaust, but shown from the perspective of perpetrators, who were mostly living their everyday life, and not really all that bothered by the magnitude of what they themselves were responsible for.
In an age when it seems like much of the world is moving dangerously to political extremes, and both hate speech and hate crimes seem to be spiking in many places all at once (including in the United States), this movie serves as a warning. It shows that seemingly normal people, at least outwardly, are capable of great evils that might seem unimaginable to us. Too often, historical figures who we regard as monsters are almost portrayed as caricatures, and they can be hard to relate to. What makes this movie scary is that the family that we see on the screen seems, at least on the surface, astonishingly normal. And they put on that front of normalcy even while all sorts of horrors are happening all around them, and which they are very much a part of and responsible for. That is a very frightening thought. Perhaps especially now, in this day and age, when we seem to be so willing to repeat the mistakes of the not-so-distant past.
A very good movie, and highly recommended!
The Zone of Interest | Official Trailer HD | A24
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