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
Christian Friedel, Sandra Hüller, Johann Karthaus, Louis Noah Witte Max Beck
USA/UK/Poland
2022
Special Presentations
In German and Polish with English subtitles
Depictions of the Holocaust
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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
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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