When Under the Skin director Jonathan Glazer makes a film — this is only his fourth feature in 23 years — it’s always essential viewing. And so it proves with this free adaptation of the 2014 novel by the late Martin Amis. Indeed, when it premiered in Cannes The Times called it “a landmark movie, hugely important,” while The Hollywood Reporter described “a devastating Holocaust drama like no other.” Sandra Hüller (Anatomy of a Fall) plays Hedwig Höss, mother of five, wife to Rudolph (Christian Friedel). They live in an idyllic villa, a river running alongside the bucolic garden, literally a stone’s throw from Rudolph’s place of work — he’s Camp Commandant at Auschwitz. Hedwig’s concerns are domestic, and most of the film takes place within the home; Glazer opted to use ten fixed cameras within this space, operated by remote control, to remove authorial judgment from the mise-en-scene. Of course that choice in itself implies a kind of judgment, and The Zone of Interest offers an account of moral solipsism which is both chilling and unforgettable, all the more so for its scrupulous restraint.
Jonathan Glazer
Christian Friedel, Sandra Hüller
USA/UK/Poland
2023
In German and Polish with English subtitles
Grand Prix, Cannes Film Festival; Best International Film, Best Sound, Academy Awards
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Credits
Producer
Jim Wilson, Ewa Puszczyńska
Screenwriter
Jonathan Glazer
Cinematography
Łukasz Żal
Editor
Paul Watts
Original Music
Mica Levi
Production Design
Chris Oddy
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