The Zone Of Interest (2023)

Set in 1943 Poland, the German commandant (Christian Friedel) of Auschwitz and his wife (Sandra Huller) are enjoying their blissful life and social status and their lovely home with flower gardens and a swimming pool. Meanwhile, behind the wall next to their home thousands of Jews are sent to their death in the gas chambers. Loosely based on the novel by Martin Amis and directed by Jonathan Glazer (BIRTH). This is only Glazer's fourth film but I'm a big fan of his previous three movies: SEXY BEAST, BIRTH and UNDER THE SKIN. Could he make it four in a row? Yes he did and I wasn't disappointed though this is by far his most difficult (and polarizing?) film. A film about the banality of evil risks being branded banal but while we never see any Jews or the the actual concentration camp, the soundtrack is filled with sounds of screaming, gunshots, trains etc. which are constantly heard. Meanwhile, birthday parties, picnics, bedtime stories, dinners occur in the family home oblivious to the horror they live next to. Winner of the Grand Prix at this year's Cannes film festival and the best picture award from the Los Angeles Film Critics, it's a cold look at the commonplace existence of evil. These aren't barking, frothing at the mouth Nazis but people who were decent people before the war but enabled the greatest horror of the 20th century. There are those who will be put off by Glazer's monotonous atmosphere but it's that very monotony that emphasizes that horror. The excellent score is by Mica Levi.