Zone of Interest
Zone of Interest is a 2023 release directed by Jonathan Glazer. His film production has been limited, but he has developed a quasi “cult” following among serious cinema buffs. This movie has been nominated for “Best Picture” and “Best Foreign Film” at the upcoming Academy Awards. BAFTA also honoured it with a “Best Movie” nomination. The Los Angeles Times named it “Movie of the Year.” The vast majority of critics gave it strong and consistent praise. Stephen Spielberg opined that “it is the finest movie about the Holocaust since Schindler’s List.” Understandably, I had high expectations. Unfortunately, I must confess my disappointment. Hannah Arendt has famously characterised the Nazi mass murder of the Jews in World War Two as a testament to “the banality of evil.” Sadly, Zone of Interest is a classic example of “the banality of film.” I was stunned by the divergence between my assessment and the acclaim from movie experts. Therefore, concerned I had experienced an intense case of brain fog during my first viewing, I decided to watch it again. I made it through 30 minutes-my review has now transitioned from “disappointment” to “active dislike.” I honestly can't fathom Mr Glazer’s mission here.
My negative reaction is based on several distinct phenomena. The movie is purportedly based on the 2014 book of the same name by Martin Amis. Anticipating the movie, I read the book in the three day period prior to my viewing. We have “immediacy” in comparing the movie to the book. The book is excellent- vintage Amis. The narrative is clear and powerful. Beautiful and provocative prose, absorbing and disturbing characters- set in the most bleak environment of them all- Auschwitz in 1943. The primary characters are the Commandant of Auschwitz and his wife, Paul and Hannah Doll. They have two minor children. There are two key supporting players. Angelus Thomsen is Senior SS officer responsible for the “labor” component of the camp operation. They manufactured synthetic rubber for the war machine. He is the nephew of Nazi leader Martin Bormann and is romantically mesmerised by Hannah. His ”relationship” with the commandant’s wife introduces a surprise human element to a horrific story. Finally, Symul Zachariah is a camp inmate, Jewish and leader of the work crew that removes dead bodies from the gas chamber, extracts items of value from their corpses and clothing and then transports them to the crematorium for burning and disposal. Literally, the worst job in human history. Symul interacts directly with the Commandant. We get snapshots of the domestic life of the Commandant’s family- they live in a splendid house located just outside the camp walls. We meet IG Farben personnel, the developers of Zylon B. We get a cameo by Martin Bormann as he plans the deportation and murder of 400,000 Hungarian Jews in the final stages of the war. The scope of the book is breathtaking. It is moving, although sometimes too clever and satirical by half- in the tradition of brilliant British writers. The book provides valuable perspective on human behaviour in circumstances beyond standard human imagination. I recommend the book!
Martin Amis died the day before the film’s release. I sincerely wonder what his reaction would have been. He was nothing if not opinionated! Who knows- perhaps he would have liked it. The vast majority of critics clearly have not read the book. Several do casually refer to Glazer’s decision not to mirror the book. One admit that “the film does take some liberties with the narrative.” Another states the movie “was loosely based on the book.” No!- The movie has no relationship with the book-ZERO- NIENTE! There is no true overlap- the plot is gutted and unrecognisable. Thomsen and Symul are omitted entirely. Glazer replaces the fictional Doll family with the genuine Hoss family. He consciously elected to share only one element of the book- the home life of the Commandant and his family. I have visited Auschwitz twice and the Commandant’s house is still there- a couple of hundred yards way from the original crematorium. Glazer does capture Amis’s descriptions of the rhythm of their domestic life: meals, parties, picnics, flowers and gardening- all which occur while surrounded by unspeakable barbarism. Life goes on- I get the point- it has been made before. Dramatising this basic premise doesn’t equate to a powerful or important movie. Basically, to fully comprehend the “banality” of the Commandant’s family existence, you must understand the “evil” they are committing on a daily basis. Amis is vivid in capturing the inherent violence and inhumanity of the Nazi action plan regarding the Jews. Glazer is more subtle (I suspect he thought understatement would make him a true artistic auteur.) We hear muffled shots, periodic screams, the quiet drone of arriving trains, the lights of the crematorium at night, distant smoke and haze, ashes in the garden, the Commandant’s wife with a new fur coat, jewelry found in a toothpaste tube.
Simply stated, it is not enough for me. The Commandant’s conversations with the IG Farben people about camp expansion, construction requirements, greater efficiency, political pressure from above cast the Commandant as a weary corporate executive navigating the challenges of moving up the promotion ladder- climbing the greasy pole. Catchy, but Hoss the real guy and Miles the Amis character are not accountants, bankers or insurance brokers. They were in the business of mass murder. Hoss wasn’t just a frustrated bureaucrat caught up in a bad system. He made choices. He joined the Nazi Party in the 1920’s and killed hundreds of people by his own hand. He was evil and sinister. Sometimes, subtlety and gentle messaging is not appropriate.
Ultimately, I was numb after the movie. Not numb as in haunted but numb after watching an empty exercise. I miss the characters from the book. A more faithful presentation would have carried the potential for a more transcendent movie. The book was more brutal but also more nuanced. You would learn the Commandant’s wife lover before she married was fervent anti-Nazi activist. You would learn Thomsen survived the war and eventually was hired by the American intelligence services. A movie with these rich characters would have been groundbreaking.
