Director Jonathan Glazer claims that he drew inspiration for his film about the Auschwitz concentration camp from reality television, complete with a concealed crew and fixed cameras.
The Zone of Interest, his Oscar-nominated film, does not depict the atrocities of mass homicide.
Conversely, the narrative centers on the adjacent household consisting of camp commandant Rudolf Hoss, his spouse Hedwig, and their five offspring.
Hoss oversaw Auschwitz from 1940 to 1943 and gassed captives with the poisonous insecticide Zyklon B.
There, an estimated 1.1 million people, one million of whom were Jews, perished.
Located mere meters away, his family delighted in their immaculate home, copious meals, and meticulously maintained garden—a concrete barrier separating them from the camp.
Although the film was shot near Auschwitz, Glazer chose to allude to the atrocities that transpired within the camp.
While gunfire, muffled cries, and the rumbling of machinery can be heard, smoke billows from the crematoriums above.
While the family pretends nothing is happening next door, Glazer films the actors using a fly-on-the-wall technique.
He states, “I kept repeating the phrase ‘Big Brother in the Nazi house.'”
Reality TV programs, such as Big Brother, documented individuals without the presence of visible camera personnel; however, contestants were constantly observed.
Glazer explains that the concept of eavesdropping appeared to be a means to represent the drama even though none exists. It was a means of sharing their presence in the home.
Conventional filming techniques, “where one becomes engrossed in the actor and close-ups—they were inappropriate for this,” were rejected by him.
When filmed with natural illumination, the result is frequently documentary-like.
In addition to nine Baftas, the film has been nominated for five Oscars, including Best Film. It earned the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival last year.
The actors appeared in footage captured in a residence near the original belonging to the Hoss family.
The crew and director, who utilized ten remotely operated cameras, observed from a nearby shelter.
He accurately asserts that “no drama” exists. The mundane existence of the family is not captivating in the traditional sense.
“There was no coziness with the characters in the filmmaking,” according to Glazer. “No funny, warm moments.”
‘Queen of Auschwitz’
We observe Hedwig entertaining guests for coffee while antagonizing her housemaids and the children playing upstairs.
Hoss, meanwhile, is devising strategies in his study to maximize the number of individuals that could be executed at a crematorium.
The juxtaposition is startling on purpose.
Glazer states that it is necessary to see everything at once to feel as though we are in that residence with them.
Additionally, in “Queen of Auschwitz,” Hedwig sneaks into her bedroom to put on a fur coat that was stolen from a Jewish prisoner. After discovering vibrant red lipstick in her pocket, she applies a smear.
Although Christian Friedel had previously declined roles involving the Nazis, including Adolf Hitler, he consented to portray Hoss.
According to him, Nazis are frequently portrayed as ruthless evils, which are cliches.
His preference was for Glazer’s method.
I believe that altering the point of view to observe these characters from a window makes sense. I was intrigued as to how one could behave in such a manner.
Jonathan instructed us, ‘Do not take any action. Be’.”
‘A luxury situation’
Sandra Hüller, who portrays Hedwig, highly compliments Glazer’s filming techniques.
She says it was a pleasure to partake in; it was a luxury situation.
Filmmaking can occasionally be “a little bit tedious”; idling around can cause one to “lose energy.”
Hüller, nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for Anatomy of Fall, explains that the absence of a crew and the use of fixed cameras allowed them to record lengthy sequences “without technical interruption.”
She states, “To believe we had an infinite amount of time in the world… we were permitted to make mistakes.” Many initiatives ought to be able to film in this manner.
The film has received largely favorable reviews, with Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian stating that it “brings the banality of evil into pin-sharp focus.”
Jewish Glazer knows that other films, including the award-winning Schindler’s List, Sophie’s Choice, and Son of Saul, have been crafted around Auschwitz.
However, he “connected” with and adapted Martin Amis’s novel The Zone of Interest.
The director remarked, “His book discovered a truly extraordinary perspective.”
Having already “seared in our minds” images of Auschwitz from documentaries, photographs, and films, he declined to include the brutality of the Nazis.
However, this does not absolve the audience from the atrocities of the camp.
Glazer, whose previous works consist of Under the Skin and Sexy Beast, was aware that “the sound would convey the ongoing atrocity that was concealed from our view but never from our thoughts.”
“Months of meticulous research” were devoted by sound designer Johnnie Burn.
He explains that we viewed the project as two films: one that was visible, comparable to a family drama or Big Brother, and the other that was audible only from behind a wall and represented the story.
“The perpetual, mechanized hum emanating from the camp’s machinery—a distressing reminder of the workshops and the crematorium’s furnace” was the most challenging sound to replicate.
Furthermore, he was tasked with the unenviable responsibility of reproducing the possible vocal characteristics of the camp’s captives.
He claims that capturing the sound of a life-ending shriek is incredibly difficult by its very nature.
‘Satanic bellows’
Specific instances of the film, including its opening, feature Mica Levi’s music displayed on a black screen while the score is in the foreground.
It elicits a multitude of responses.
“While some individuals perceive it as eerie and tranquil, others find it unsettling,” the musician elucidates.
The music is described by The Hollywood Reporter as “a profound, inhuman sound, resembling the roar of satanic bellows” and by Variety as “extremely eerie.”
Levi compares it to a question mark because it fails to support the characters’ story emotionally.
After buying the home from a Polish family, Hoss remodelled it, another key feature of the film.
Despite his desire, production designer Chris Oddy could not replicate the scene at Auschwitz.
Because the area is a Unesco World Heritage Site, construction, and disturbance are strictly prohibited within a 500-meter exclusion zone.
Nevertheless, Glazer managed to film in the region, which the Nazis designated the Zone of Interest.
The Memorial and Museum for Auschwitz-Birkenau defined this as an SS-controlled area around Auschwitz.
It is stated that to eradicate witnesses to their crimes and prevent prisoners from interacting with the outside world, the Germans forcibly expelled around 9,000 inhabitants from that region.
‘Holes for cameras’
The original dwelling remains in the vicinity, occupied by a family.
However, it no longer appears “new” enough to have served as the Hoss residence throughout World War II.
“We developed a deep friendship with the local family,” Oddy continues, having visited them on six separate occasions throughout his investigation.
He located a dilapidated structure just 200 meters away from the initial dwelling, which the crew occupied.
He installed the fixed cameras after four and a half months of replastering, decorating, and buying furniture and plants. “I just counted how many holes I had to make,” he elaborates.
Glazer asserts that his film “explores obscure facets of human capability” and retains its contemporary relevance.
He states, “I believe that what is depicted in this film is what we do to one another as human beings.”
“We perceive others to be inferior to us and distinct from ourselves.” Subsequently, this results in acts of atrocity.
It is about our inherent violent nature and how we must avoid it.
