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The Zone of Interest

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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 earlier this year The Times called it “a landmark movie, hugely important,” while The Hollywood Reporter described “a devastating Holocaust drama like no other.” Sandra Hüller (who also stars in Anatomy of a Fall at VIFF this year) 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.

 

Grand Prize of the Festival, FIPRESCI; Best Composer, Cannes 2023

Director
Cast

Christian Friedel, Sandra Hüller, Johann Karthaus, Louis Noah Witte Max Beck

Credits
Country of Origin

USA/UK/Poland

Year

2022

Series

Special Presentations

Language

In German and Polish with English subtitles

Content Warning

Depictions of the Holocaust

18+
105 min
Drama

Book Tickets

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Credits

Executive Producer

Reno Antoniades, Len Blavatnik, Danny Cohen, Tessa Ross, Ollie Madden, Daniel Battsek, David Kimbangi

Producer

James Wilson, Ewa Puszcyńska

Screenwriter

Jonathan Glazer

Cinematography

Łukasz Żal

Editor

Paul Watts

Production Design

Chris Oddy

Original Music

Mica Levi

Director

Jonathan Glazer headshot

Photo by Mica Levi

Jonathan Glazer

After completing art school and a degree in Theatre Design, Jonathan Glazer landed a job making film trailers. This led to music videos, TV commercials and art projects. Glazer’s feature directing debut was Sexy Beast in 2000. He went on to co-write and direct Birth in 2004 and Under the Skin in 2014.

Filmography: The Zone of Interest (2023); First Light (2020); Strasbourg 1518 (2020); Under the Skin (2013); Birth (2004)

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