While not the first drama orwarfilm to deal with the Holocaust, and also not the first to humanize the perpetrators,The Zone of Interesttargets the complacency of those who were closely involved in the killings and transposes the mechanisms that murdered six million to a domestic setting. At Auschwitz, the most well-known and infamous of the Nazi concentration camps, commandant Rudolf Höss (Christian Friedel) oversees the killing factory with ruthless efficiency as his wife Hedwig (Sandra Hüller) implements the same tactics in maintaining the family household.The Zone of Interestis a disturbing look at complicity and dehumanization and illustrates the capacity to ignore unimaginable suffering, even when it’s right outside our door.
The Zone of Interest
Humanization of the Guilty
There are many facets that makeThe Zone of Interestsuch adisturbing and provocative film. Addressing the Holocaust is a challenge for any director, especially when it comes to portraying the parties involved and the levels of barbaric cruelty that defy the imagination to this very day.If the actions of genocide were taken by the sort of monsters that permeate our childhood nightmares, that would be one thing.The fact that those who perpetrated the Holocaust and were complicit in its execution were ordinary human beings is another.
The Zone of Interesteffectively humanizes those closest to the crimes that took place at Auschwitz and thoroughly reminds the audience that these were actions of ordinary people. Rudolf Höss, the camp commandant and the one responsible for mass killing on an industrial scale, and his wife, Hedwig, led an almost tranquil existence in their household that sits adjacent to the camp.Writings left by Rudolf Höss at the time of his trial following the war’s end attest to his and his wife’s desire to raise their children in a loving household.
Knowing what we know now aboutwhat occurred at Auschwitz, it seems incomprehensible that any family could thrive in a domestic setting while such actions were taking place.The dichotomy that exists between Höss and his wife cements the ruthless efficiency with which the Nazis ran their extermination centers. Juxtaposing Höss’s endless toil with Hedwig’s domineering control of the household,The Zone of Interestillustrates the cold and calculating efficiency with which the Holocaust persevered.
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A Complete Lack of Violence and Empathy
The humanization of the perpetrators inThe Zone of Interestis certainly a disturbing aspect of the film, which is furtheraccentuated by the lack of violence and stark depictions of apathy throughout the narrative. Central to both aspects depicted inThe Zone of Interestis the insular setting, where much of the film takes place. Limiting much of the story to the household in which Rudolf and Hedwig Höss live establishes a sort of self-imposed isolation and complacency with the actions occurring at Auschwitz that exist right outside their doors.
For Rudolf Höss, the duties as a camp commandant are merely a job, with him and Hedwigcompletely detached from the scale of unimaginable suffering. House guests and officials come and go, as some discernible level of domestic tranquility is maintained. The killing on an industrial scale is treated like bureaucracy with board meetings and statistics, completely dehumanizing the victims in the eyes of the perpetrators.
Depicting the events that transpired at Auschwitz is left to the audience’s imagination as they’re strongly implied off-screen. ThroughoutThe Zone of Interest, there are very few visual cues that hint at the crimes being perpetrated at Auschwitz, with emphasis being placed on sounds emanating from the camp, such as the screaming of guards and prisoners and audible gunfire. The audience is made complicit in the actions that occur, as they’re forced to formulate a mental image of human suffering.
As the atrocities at the camp take place, the audience bears witness to business as usual in the Höss household, as the family is willingly oblivious to the carnage unfolding. The complete lack of violence on screen is disturbing and jarring to the imagination, and the lack of empathy from the characters illustrates a complete detachment from reality.
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Redefining What It Means To Be Disturbing
When the topic of disturbing cinema is brought up in any form of discourse, the subjects usually focus on excessive amounts of violence and shocking presentation.The Zone of Interestis one of the most disturbing films to emerge in recent years, but certainly not for the reasons we normally might think of.The Zone of Interest, while addressing the single greatest inhumanity to take place in human history, reminds us of detachment and apathy as it pertains to genocide. All too often, events that occur a world away seem too distant to matter.The Zone of Interestshows usthe complicit nature of humanity as evil exists right outside our door.
