The family dog and the baby were always anxious throughout the whole film. Pacing around, whining, crying. Yes, it added to the tension in the film. But the dog and baby were the household's most innocent, impressionable characters. They sensed something wasn't "right" in the environment they were in, and expressed it freely through primitive behaviour (barking, whining, crying, etc.)
yess ! she appears in the persons the movie is dedicated to. the whole plot was filmed with a military thermal camera because in words of the director, he wanted to make her shine just as she did in real life
The girl placing the apples is a true story. Jonathan Glazer met the 90 year old Polish woman before she passed away. A beautiful sub-plot of humanity.
Now that scene where the little boy was hearing the guards of the wall complaining about how a fight broke out over an apple makes even more sense. Chilling...
@@robyncooperramsey8323 Her name is Aleksandra Bystroń-Kołodziejczyk, there are links in her Wikipedia article. Majority of texts will be in Polish, but automatic translation is usually pretty accurate.
The note was no doubt her mother expressing her disturbance at what was happening next door. The furnaces lighting up her bedroom did it for her. Hedwig casually tossing the note in the fire and going about her business was pretty horrifying too.
I don't think Hedwig felt nothing about her mother's letter. She did want the house for her mother's approval and comfort. It's the fact that her mother rejected her way of life that unnerved her & made her feel judged (rather than the deaths), so she chose to ignore it completely to justify her lfiestyle. That just speak so much truth, especially in today's world.
I took it as mom didn't like the 'unpleasantness' of the 'view', like she's not disgusted by the atrocity or thinks it's wrong, but because it's just unpleasant. And I bet she left for petty, superficial reasons. Remember mom was like 'you let a jew in the house>?!' and hedwig lied about it to her, calling her a 'local girl'. Mom also complains she didn't get her jewish former-boss's curtains. Absolute trash humans
I watched this film last night. It was phenomenal but also the most uncomfortable film I've watched in a long time. How the sound tells a different story from what we're witnessing on screen is just stunning. I will be thinking about this for a long time.
It's so true. Complete and utter 2 different films: one is the Hoss family stuff seen, two is the sounds etc beyond the wall of Auschwitz, spelling. Same as one is my life I'm living and two is all if the atrocities I see and hear around me. Sound Oscar goes to....Zone of Interest!!!
We watched it last night and compared it to Childish Gambino's This Is America music video. While he is doing silly dances in the foreground, there is a bunch of wild shit happening in the background.
I interpreted the flash forward scene as a moment of how only after these tragedies happen is when we give them proper treatment, while during the time it happens we just focus internally.
I sorta had two interpretations. The first was that the people who work there today as cleaners are almost having the same experience as people back then. They are so exposed to the sight of thousands of empty shoes that they become numb to it now and just carry on with their daily routine, barely even acknowledging it. The second was that, no matter how much you try and sanitise something (either by putting up a wall or by physically cleaning it), the stain of evil never comes off. Mopping the floor in the gas chamber does nothing to remove the colours on the walls that tell us what happened there.
Or also, that we will never fully be able to understand the true horror because we did not recognize it while it happened. Like every other historical tragedy we only see it from behind a wall. Perhaps Hoss also felt separated from i t and also recognized its brutality. Like he knew he was culpable but also powerless.
@@patrickhoxie9175i will add that we could never truly recognize them because we weren't there. Exept the survivors or maybe other people with similar experiences, the touch; smell; and witnessing of the dead, and the pain being interrogated by the guards were subjective experience that cannot be accurately captured by either the film nor the memorial. We were shielded/separated from the horror by the walls in the movie; then, in the memorial we were shielded/separated by the glass between us and the shoes.
The wife refusing to leave the house when Hoess got transferred was the moment that upset me the most. The lipstick and the mink coat was bad but the house being so important to her showcased her acceptance of the death happening in her backyard.
@@luckyone3818 Höss found a piece of skull while fishing, then he sent the children into the house. And they scrubbed the children clean of the ashes in the water.
He took the kids to the River and he peacefully fishing etc and then you see it the brown cloud in the Water? It's Ashes like and ya the bone. Just horrific honestly. But I reckon they were scrubbing those kids because of the Zyklon B, probably thinking the kids would be poisoned like.
When he was in the river fishing, a huge amount of ash comes down the river, dumped from the crematorium and they all freak out because it touches their skin and they rush back to scrub it off in the bathtub...
I just saw this movie, and there was a particular scene that really overwhelmed me. It’s the scene with the close-ups of the flowers, with the screaming in the background increasing in volume. Then the screen slowly fades into blood red as the sound suddenly cuts out completely. We wait there for a few seconds before those synthesized foghorns come in, letting off a couple of stomach-churning blasts… before it just smash-cuts back to the main character casually eyeing his garden. I swear to God I dragged my hands down my face and was on the verge of crying. I can’t even explain what it was, but what an incredibly haunting moment.
They don't come around much, but at the same time there are more masterpieces out now than there have ever been! Every year I see a film from the past five to ten years and am stunned by it. But rarely, to your point, do I get to see them in the theater upon their initial release. Thankfully with this film, I was able to.
@@molon___labe Glazer and his producer have brought that up in the awards speeches so if this comment is rooted in resentment towards Jews and holocaust remembrance you're way off. If this is a serious question I assume it will take many years for enough facts and stories to become available for that film to be written.
Thank you for suggesting the infrared scenes are that way to create good-in-the-dark vs. evil-in-the-light inversion of the daylight scenes in the garden. I wondered why the filmmaker chose to do that. Your theory is very plausible.
The 3 minute intro of black screen and music with a confused vibe, was like a descent into another reality. This was definitely one of the clever ways to pull the audience in, especially when the plot is so thin, it feels like were taken back in time, or watching a museum play out.
It's the small moments, like the discussion of the curtains and the woman her mom used to clean for, that have stuck with me since seeing this. I love that the Oscars recognized it.
@@leonardo448 I don't know about that. I think she means it genuinely, and it's only after seeing the pillars of fire and smoke, and being forced to look directly at the truth of the atrocities, that her spirit shifts.
@@spenserdavis788Glazer has said that the mother didn’t leave the house because she was disgusted with what was going on, more that she left because she didn’t want to be close to it. He compared it to buying meat at a supermarket vs going to an abattoir.
@@nicolahobbs5985 Oh yeah, that was definitely clear (and I love that metaphor). I'm not suggesting that she begins to feel bad. When I mention her spirits, I meant it more as, "I'm not having a fun time here anymore, I'm gonna go." Which is such great, silent storytelling.
The family represent us. Not something we might do in the future under certain extreme circumstances, but what we are all doing right now, every day of the year. We all watch the news and see starving children, wartorn countries etc but we do nothing about it. We carry on living our prosperous lives, tending to our gardens, shopping for coats and lipstick. Hedwig and Hoss are us. We don't think we are monsters and neither did they. That's the point.
Hi, I’m a History Ph.D. student specializing in the Holocaust. Höss participated in the orchestration of the mass murder of over one million Jews in Auschwitz by ordering the use of Zyklon B in gas chambers and overseeing the deaths of entire populations of Jews, Roma and Sinti, homosexuals, “asocials” and other “undesirables.” He did not “do nothing about it,” he did it. With all due respect, Höss is not us. Unless, of course, we are actively involved in perpetuating a genocide.
I completely agree. Banality of capitalism. The Höss’ obsession with class and status as well as the material goods they acquire. They’re need to maintain comfort, to the discomfort of the prisoners. But also the close proximity to industrialised death and dehumanisation, while still completely keeping it arm’s length, literally and figuratively.
i've always argued with my friends that learning history is useless. people say, "learn history so it doesn't repeat itself," yet history continues to repeat itself every single day. it doesn't matter if we learn history, it continues to repeat itself. doesn't matter how hard we try against it, it will repeat itself continuously. i think history is just the archetype of humanity--we will repeat and rewash history until the very end or until we evolve
Didn't take me more than 3mins to conclude this was a masterpiece. It's one of the most gut wrenching experiences I've ever seen. One of the reasons for its horror is the stunning beauty of the daily scenes. Beautiful colours and aesthetics. Just ordinary people living their lives right next to industrial horror. This film will be with me forever. And one of the most impressive aspects is that TZOI manages to erase time. Removes the distance between us and those unspeakable acts and ask us how far we really are from the Holocaust, both ethically, morally and practically. No other holocaust movie has ever asked us to our face if we're really at a safe distance or if there even is such a thing. ❤
YES! From the minute the black screen lingered in it's long duration at the beginning...I knew we were in for something we have not really ever seen in Cinema before....Maybe the Wizard of OZ. LOL! Really you know what I'm saying! And the ending when the cleaners open the door ....I knew immediately where we were. We were not in Kansas anymore!
I am American - I saw this today in Leipzig, Germany where Sandra Hüller actually lives. The theater was pretty full, mostly people around 60-70 years old. Afterwards I desperately wanted to ask the audience members what they thought of the film. What an unforgettable film. Everyone should see it but I doubt most people will take the time to do so.
That was a terific review! The best I've seen. Bravo. My wife and I saw it over the weekend and were blown away. I agree - it's a masterpiece and one of my favorite movies I've seen in a long time. BTW, the scenes with the Polish girl leaving fruit for the prisoners to aren't shot in night vision - they're shot as negatives, as if the Polish girl is the opposite/reverse of the daughter.
Although you mentioned it briefly, I think there are very accurate comparisons to how we treat animals we domesticate for food today. Most people want to remain ignorant of where their food comes from and how it makes it onto their grill. They just want to laugh and party while eating their steak, hot dogs, and burgers. I talk about this in our review of the movie.
this distilled so many thoughts i had floating around in my brain but didn't quite have the words to accurately communicate. thank god for media literacy, this analysis was great
A great companion piece for The Zone of Interest is 1981's My Dinner With Andre. My Dinner With Andre tackles the same themes in a more immediate fashion, whereas The Zone of Interest seems to be a portrait/meditative piece on its themes. Both films make the same argument effectively, but in different ways. Definitely check out My Dinner With Andre if you haven't.. its fascinating
Not true at all. My dinner with Andre spokes about different lifestyles, but the movies never suggest that Andre´s point view is the correct one since many of his stories are ridiculous, for example, that he was buried alive for a period of time so he could feel human..
Her baby crying in multiple scenes may indicate that she is so used to people screaming and crying for help in the camp that she can easily sleep through her own child's cries
The sanitization and cleaning throughout the movie really stood out to me from the get-go. It was always in the context of wanting to rid themselves of something reminding them of wrongdoings. The blood on the boots, the ashes in the river and in the nose, the fur coat that she wanted cleaned and repaired and the lipstick on her skin, his pe*** after he slept w the woman in his office,... Always pushing the smallest detail out of (mind's) eye that could confront them with the horrific acts, never wanting anything reminding them. And then we see the cleaners in modern day Auschwitz. The place felt cared for. For the first time in the movie cleaning didn't feel like something to me that's meant to get rid of something but to care for a place that enables more people to remind themselves of those horrific acts. Never forget, never again.
Im 71. I thought for years that if I learned enough about the Holocaust, I'd understand it. I still don't understand it. Excellent video. Thank you for a job well done. ❤
@@jeremyhopkins577 woah, this reminded me of how the act of killing didnt win best documentary ( i thought it shouldve been the first doc to be nominated for best picture )
Great analysis. I loved the camera work (reality show/doco style) in this and the use of sound. Very effective and nudged the subconscious. I also found the camera work very Kubrick like which I loved.
I think your commentary starting at 7:39 is... I don't know. It doesn't sit well with me. Having been to Auschwitz, those "walls between us and the artifacts" are there to preserve said artifacts, and to preserve a history that many people chose not to believe happened. Those artifacts would crumble and be forgotten if there were no walls between us and them. It's not there to make "the experience more comfortable to participate in" (7:46). It's so it can be preserved and, most importantly, not forgotten. The rooms that those artifacts are in are designed to do exactly that, NOT for the "comfort" of those visiting, because believe me, absolutely no moment being on those grounds was comfortable. That being said, I do very much think you're spot on with your commentary about the Polish girl being the only bright spot while hiding apples in the dirt for the workers, and her home compared to the Höss' home (starting at 9:49). For the case of the Polish family "hiding" (10:23), you can hear a man during that scene after she returns home, and he is speaking Yiddish, which was a language used BY Jewish people before the Holocaust. We never see the man, but it leads me to believe that Glazer meant for us to interpret that they were, at the very least, sympathetic towards Jews. There were also many, MANY non-Jewish Pols who were killed at Auschwitz. The shot of Auschwitz towards the end, with the long hallway full of photos of prisoners, is filled with non-Jewish Pols. (edited for spelling errors and general sentence structure)
Really liked your analysis and when you mentioned the note from the mother I think you could have gone further: she didn’t just “throw it away” but burnt it in the furnace they had in their house in the corner of the room (other furnaces are discussed in the film). This is the furnace that also provides the central heating she was at pains to pint out because of the very cold winters - so it all wraps in to your theme and expands on it.
Well I just wanted to say it is truly a pleasure to follow this channel. It’s inspiring to see young people like me appreciating films such as this one and wanting to discuss them! And you were a big part of why I started enjoying them in the first place so thank you ;)
One of the best reviews I have EVER listened to. I just got out of the movie theatre where I saw the movie. This review made me appreciate twice as more.
This is by far the best review I've read. I watched at least 7 different reviews here on RU-vid and this one could explain in detail what the director wanted us to feel and think. 👏 thank you for writing a great review for an amazing, unique movie.
This is quite honestly one of the best and most thoughtful reviews of a film I've ever watched. It really got to me when you touched on how evil happens in the light and goodness under the cover of darkness.
Ash was a big character in the film. I felt like ash was always present in the background. The wrenching on the stairwell after the decadent party felt like it symbolized his own disgust with himself and his small moment of self reflection. He also seemed awkward around the rest of the party goers like he’s being used to carry out this mass murder.
The party scene and his retching I think were the last gasps of his humanity, recognizing the horror of the Final Solution and reflecting on what history would think of it-as represented by Höss looking at US in the darkened corridor and by the scenes of Auschwitz today. Yet he suppresses that brief flicker of awareness, puts on his hat and keeps going, descending into the darkness of hell. And indeed, in real life, he would leave that meeting to carry out the extermination of Hungary’s entire Jewish population, which he did in only a couple months during the summer of 1944.
Christian Friedel and Sandra Huller gave incredible and VERY disturbing performances. Two scenes that stuck with me: The one where the wife casually threatens the girl, telling her that she could have her husband cremate her; and the one where Hess is talking with his wife on the phone and says that he was thinking of how he could gas the attendants of the party. The idea that they were so casual and indifferent to the genocide they were committing wqs so off-putting.
What made it so gut wrenching for me was that this movie had almost zero close ups and the camp always looms large as a groaning monster just outside their garden.
Just walked out of the theatre and sat down with a beer by myself. This movie absolutely just numbed me. That ending scene, it’s was like Hoss was looking into the future, at how these crimes would be remembered. He borked but nothing came out, he had nothing inside him, not emotionally or mentally. Completely devoid of humanity. Very good film
Further emphasizing the film's message are comments from viewers- more inclined to describe how the movie made them feel, rather than what it made them think. While there is plenty in The Zone of Interest to gauge our emotions, and great films often do evoke strong feelings,, this film also offers ideas and concepts to feed the intellect and challenge the mind. I've been disappointed by the many remarks from people expressing how this movie sounds "too disturbing" to sit through, even though it purposely avoids displaying any violent images. These same people, who strongly favor teaching the truth about slavery and Native American genocide to kids in US schools can't risk exposing their own fragile sensitivities to this historical masterwork of a film, and are emblematic of the greater problem. Because it's much more convenient to avoid that which has the potential to make us 'feel bad,' and credit that choice on our propensity to feel 'too much.' Our capacity to feel and be humanly affected is meaningless if it only serves to justify our excuses for looking away. And if it can happen with a film, it certainly can be done to those suffering and oppressed right outside our own front doors.
I love this comment. I felt so deeply uncomfortable and sick to my stomach watching this movie, but I felt a responsibility to embrace it, considering it’s such a small price to pay compared to the horrors portrayed in the film. There is no empathy or understanding of others without real, scary discomfort.
@@Jules2439.5 Thank you. I had a far more difficult time watching the documentary "20 Days in Mariuopol." It's graphic and devastating and I carried its impact with me weeks after.. But I knew that reporters risked their lives to share the footage, and that the Ukrainians desperately need for it to be seen. The Russian gov't accused the wounded and the dead in the footage of being 'crisis actors.'' I had to watch it because Putin is counting on us tn the west to cover our eyes and ignore it.
“If you want to make a scary movie not scary anymore, cover your ears and not your eyes.” The sound of this movie is what does it. Seeing the monster is ok, hearing it and imagining it can be horrifyingly real.
@@Jules2439.5. Totally agree. We must keep the horrors of the Holocaust alive lest we let it happen again. It’s too easy to see our enemies as less than human.
Excellent interpretation! For me personally, I believe this film is about how evil’s goal is not to convince the masses to do its bidding and thereby sway them into adopting its way of thinking, but to numb and desensitize them to its actions. Evil ultimately knows that it cannot take hold of everyone, so it strives to be passively accepted as a way of life by the majority of people. That being said, your interpretation is completely valid, and can absolutely be argued effectively.
Great analysis. I thought the modern day shots were communicating pretty strongly that it just doesn't seem possible to repair a history like this. We want to remember it, but there is no way to do that without irony. That's why the cleaning crew is featured in my opinion.
Watched the film last night and loved your analysis. You articulated a lot of things I was only vaguely feeling but not able to put my finger on. I love how you said the night vision scenes show the girl as a light in the darkness, while the Hoss home is suffused with sunlight that can’t hide the decay of their souls
This is the best review of this movie I've seen and I am recommending it to everyone. This analysis captures the tone, the mood, the nuance, and the application of the message to us in our time.
This film is incredible because of how the film makes you really think. The family acts happily despite the heinous acts that’s happening next to them. Rudolph Hoss acting like a normal family man despite the job he does. The ending reminding the audience with the reality we live in. It also makes you ask the question “How can people live with themselves knowing people are literally dying next to them?” This is a film that will stick with people for a long time and it’s a reminder of what the past has taught us.
The ending really hit me hard because ive been to both holocost museums in los angeles and dc and i remember the shoes and ehen i saw the chamber being swept out i immediately made the connection to how the simple act of sweeping is supposed to represent the chambers being sweep clean of ash like they would be at the end of an oven cycle, almost as if to say its the end of our cycle throught movie and story.
I got a different vibe from the theme of the people cleaning. Like the cleaning going on through most of the movie had a sense of fear, of shame, of denial. But the people cleaning at the end of the movie had none of that. They were relaxed while clearly maintaining the place out of a dedication to truth - and as such, they carried themselves in a noticeably different way to anyone else in the film.
My Mom was 12 years old when this took place. She was told by teachers and others NOT to ask questions. She was sent to the country side when bombing took place in the city. My Mom said my grand father was threatened plenty of times to be thrown in concentration camps for voicing his opinion! Germans were told to shut your mouth! It’s horrible what happened. My Mom had a friend who she played with and when she went upstairs for dinner and bedtime. The friend and family were gone in the morning, door wide open. Horrible happenings! War is NO good for anyone!
The images of the beautiful vegetable & flower crops in the gardens, that had been fertilised by the ashes of the people killed next door, was brilliant & grotesque.
Ooph. I had so many reactionary thoughts as I was watching this but you squashed them as soon as as I had them. Great analysis. Not sure I’ve ever seen your page but definitely subscribed after this.
I cannot wait to watch it on Max. It's going to be a feast for my eyes. With no film being used, the movie manages to look old and modern at the same time.
Great movie. Extremely clinical, cold, and oppressive. Several scenes and shots still stick with me over three weeks later. Bare minimum it should win Best Foreign Film & Best Sound. I'm hoping it'll win Best Picture. Edit: YAY!!! it one Best Sound and Best Foreign Film.
I thought him cutting the lights off/checking the doors in his home at night was what all of us guys do at home, more or less. I like the thoughts interpreted in this video; new sub!
I found out about this film today after hearing about The Commandant's Shadow, so I could be completely missing the point of the cleaning and sanitizing scenes but to me, as a history lover and someone who is always seeking out museums and the like I think there could be a point being made about sanitizing to destroy or hide the evidence and what evils were happening, vs cleaning the museums to preserve history so we have it and have to face it.
I guess one of the most important conclusions is how we tend to distance ourselves by saying people like the Hösses or other Nazis were evil monsters. They were not. They were husbands, fathers, brothers and sons. Of course it's comforting to see them as not human because then we won't have to reflect on ourselves. With that abstract concept of demonizing them (which is understandable considering their horrific crimes!), we completely miss out the point why they did what they did and how they were able to do it while actually really believing they did the best they could to provide for themselves, their families, their society and for mankind, sometimes even without being rascists or anti-Semites. Believing we ourselves would never be able to do this because we aren't evil monsters but on the right side of history is the direct way into the next dictatorship or even the next genocide, probably only of a different kind. It's not like the world had to wait all that long after Nazi-Germany had been defeated.
He wasn't. He was healthy. He died by hanging after being found guilty of war crimes. Fun fact, he was hanged right outside the crematorium at Auschwitz.
I’m watching it in an hour, I’ll edit and put my thoughts here when I get back. Edit: … this is very experimental and unnerving. The score sounds straight out of hell. Not my favorite of the BP noms, but one that I will be thinking about for quite a long time.
@@angelotrinidad6888. I agree with Eric. You have to think about this movie for awhile to decide how you feel about it. I saw it a couple of days ago and I’m still rolling it around in my mind. Things that seem unimportant when you watch the movie stick in your brain until you admit how horrific they were. Hedwig proudly showing her garden to her mother while the sound of guns explodes in the background for example.
One of the things that seems to stick with me about the camera work is all of those wide shots where we can see a glimpse of what's happening over the wall even as the characters are (intentionally) walking in a way that screens it from their view. Such a simple and effective way of getting the message across.
i didn't know what this movie was about and just watched it as i saw the name around without reading any reviews and was so shocked and shaken. i definitely saw myself as the Hoss family...esp in regards what is happening in our world now....and being a vegan...esp what we are doing to the animals on a mass scale. This is probably one of the most shocking, subtle, quiet and understated movies that i have ever watched.
I will watch this movie again because of it's depth. Thank God for A24. Some of them...Midsommer, The Green Knight, Lamb, Everything All At Once. I think they also did "The Killing Of A Sacred Deer. Many more that we probably would not have seem otherwise.
What I love is this film along with glazers under the skin MAKES THE AUDIENCE decide what the characters are feeling and thinking when I first saw under the skin, I was confused as hell but watching a second time I understood that glazer dosent TELL you anything, he SHOWS what the alien is going through and her face after humans help her up, her face when she looks in the mirror recognizing her own self. Here it’s the same. After watching a third time I noticed that rudolf in little bits and pieces does not even really like his job or their house. The opening scene has him staring into the ceiling as he tries to sleep, even at the camp he’s sort of looking to the left and smoking a cigarette outside he leans to the right ignoring the wall. Even when he moves away from his house he seems a little more happy watching the marching band, playing with that dog, ect. And yes when he almost throws up his evil sprit at the end but he can’t do it. He realizes that years from now, these people will be remembered and this building will be a museum some day so… it’ll all turn out good in the end. Time to go to bed
Something else tying into your theme of light and darkness is the title made of white letters being consumed by the darkness. Literally showing the words "The Zone of Interest" being darkened, just as Hoss' zone of interest debatably darkens in the end, though obviously not fully.
Great vid. Quick question if I may. Who is the artist of that large yellow print/painting directly behind the computer monitor? Very interesting artwork. Curious to learn more... Many thanks
Your main takeaway is that we are supposed to see ourselves in the Hösses. Glazer himself pushed this interpretation in interviews. But my takeaway is almost the exact opposite of yours. For me, the most striking element of The Zone of Interest is that all the superficial ways in which the Höss family is similar to us just serve to make their *unique* evil so much more viscerally frightening and horrific. My interpretation is different because I believe it's way too convenient to draw a line between feeling comfortable and decorating your house while wars are happening in the world (what we do) and deliberately orchestrating a plan to murder over a million people virtually with your bare hands (what Höss did). Any line you draw between these two things is almost offensive in its generalization. Höss is *very* tuned into the suffering around him - he personally runs the camps and wipes blood off his boots - he just doesn't care. His preoccupation with gassing people is something we cannot even contemplate. The contrast between a normal family garden on the one hand, and the callousness and evil of a kind never seen before or since on the other, induces a sick horror and serves as a testament to the backdrop of one of the worst atrocities in history. I agree with you that this horror comes from the realization that the Nazis were human beings and their acts emerged from human nature. And yes, it serves as another awakening to never allow such a horror happen again. But my interpretation diverges from yours in that I think it's crucial to recognize that there is a circuit breaker to that part of our human nature, a red line that prevents us from devolving into such atrocities. It is extremely rare for a nation to descend into the moral depravity of Nazi Germany - if that has ever even happened. Nothing today approaches the horrors of the Holocaust on any level - not Ukraine, Israel, Gaza, the Southern border. It's not just numbers - the Holocaust by its nature was a singular event, one of a tiny number of times in history that a government resolved to exterminate a population through an explicit Final Solution, and not as part of war for conquest but purely for ideological reasons. The horror we feel comes from seeing that red line broken, not as part of a melodrama or thriller but as a shockingly real depiction of reality as it actually happened in all of its blandness. The analogy you made that is most comparable is animal agriculture, but I think that comparison illustrates my point about the circuit breaker. With animals, that red line just doesn't exist in our brains, and humans throughout history have had no qualms about killing animals for food. Not so with people. My interpretation of the ending is that Höss is descending the stairs to hell. Regarding the Polish girl, I've seen others point out that her scenes fade in from Höss reading fairy tales to his daughter, almost as if to say that this contrast of good was just a wish upon a star during the Holocaust. Thanks for your analysis. The Zone of Interest is my favorite film of 2023 as well. It is a heavy and shocking film however you choose to interpret it.
We try to envision the Holocaust and the Nazis as a one-off event in human history. No doubt the worst in terms of scale but we have always been this way. It starts with dehumanization.. the Nazis dehumanized their victims in order to facilitate the mass murders and we in turn dehumanize the Nazis by making them larger than life mega-monsters. Niether are true. We are just good as humans at creating an illusion and proceeding to live inside of it. The Nazis were living, thinking, breathing, human beings and they are just like you and me. History does not happen in a vacuum and the more I study the Holocaust, its causes and consequences the more I realize that even the most evil of Nazis were in fact human beings. It may have seemed to those that weren’t paying attention like it just came out of nowhere with no warning but it didn’t. Jews were hated in Germany long before Hitler and National Socialism took control. The extermination of the Jews was not an initial war aim but rather an evolution of a multitude of factors which tragically led Germany down the darkest path of its history
Has a nation ever descended into the moral depravity of Nazi Germany? Absolutely. The genocide of the First Nations of the United States is a very serious example. The estimated loss of life in numbered only goes up over time. Rounding up Japanese people into internment camps was a close call, although they weren’t death camps. And in fact, we’re not far off now. Law enforcement can pretty much perjure, rape, and murder without any consequences, sometimes retaining work after discovery. And it’s particularly true if the victims are part of the “criminal class.” Cambodian, Rwandan, and other genocides have also been national tragedies elsewhere
I like this kind of movies. Seeing how people take these irrational, brutal ideologies for granted must cause people somewhere in the world to question their own ideologies and the system they live in.
living in germany, from the start at that lake shot, it felt so brutal how real, besides the clothes that’s a pretty normal german afternoon in summer time… the parallels either the present are absolutely powerful.
I heard about this movie and unfortunately it didn’t show around in any theaters near me but also I’m kinda glad. My skin was crawling with this movie and I had to stop it and sort of take a breather because it was making me so upset. Really amazing movie but not an easy one to watch. Especially with headphones on. The sound design was really good in the most horrible way.
@4:37 I think it's also worth adding to this an Upton Sinclair's quote: "It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it."
In other words, or in simpler terms, pay a man enough, and he'll have no issue/problem ignoring something being done that is unjust or unfair [either to himself or to someone else]: e.g. injustice.
