The Zone of Interest

⭐ 9.5/10

A bit late to get around to this one, but it was a perfectly timed double-feature with A Real Pain. This one is about the family of Rudolph Hoss, who runs Auschwitz, and they all live in luxury on the other side of the wall from the camp. There are a dozen moments that stick out here, as the family enjoys and fights for their pampered lifestyle, with comments and choices that have wormed their way into my mind. It's super bleak, and reading about this family afterwards was just as rewarding.

From a filmmaking side I'm not the first to say that the sound is what really stands out. We don't ever get a glimpse into the camp, but the sounds we hear paint the picture. Screams and gunshots ring out during tours of a beautiful garden, dogs barking and shouted orders as children sleep comfortably. The real unnerving one is the constant burning and churning, like the Ents living next to the fire and industry of Isengard. It's really impressive, the sense of dread that you get from sound alone.

I think this movie is a masterpiece, although I will say I didn't completely love the choice of the final scene. Hoss has this physical reaction that feels like his inner humanity fighting to claw its way to the surface, and then that's paired with what I read as a glimpse into the future, at least for us, and maybe for him. It took me out a bit, but there is no denying the power of what you are seeing, followed by his decision to continue on. This level of evil is incomprehensible, and that's the part of this movie I can't shake.

I knew what this movie was about going in, and I've heard it brought up in regards to Israel/Palestine, Trump, all that. The idea being that there is evil all around us, many of us play a part in it, yet we go on with our days blissfully unaware. Trust me, I work for a company that has a history involving many people I would say are evil, and our software is used for things I don't agree with - I think about this stuff every day. I guess my complaint with this discourse around this movie is that this movie isn't subtle!  Sure you don't enter the camp, but these people know completely how their actions relate to what is going on on the other side of that wall. It feels completely removed from the micro-evils we participate in every day, like using apps created by tyrants, or living on land that was probably stolen from native people but still has the gall to name its streets after them (i.e. my neighbourhood). I don't think its up to us to bear the burden of the collective evils of the past, or to live our lives paralyzed by the evil happening on the other side of the globe, but its impossible not to be mindful of them and its important that we are. I don't think this movie is saying that at all - there is no nuance here. What we are watching is a couple knowingly murdering over a million people (by his own count) and somehow living at peace with it. Their intent is unclear, but it is horrific and it happened, and I think that's more the point.

Here are some quotes from Rudolph Hoss before his execution from Wikipedia.

In a farewell letter to his wife, Höss wrote:

Based on my present knowledge I can see today clearly, severely and bitterly for me, that the entire ideology about the world in which I believed so firmly and unswervingly was based on completely wrong premises and had to absolutely collapse one day. And so my actions in the service of this ideology were completely wrong, even though I faithfully believed the idea was correct. Now it was very logical that strong doubts grew within me, and whether my turning away from my belief in God was based on completely wrong premises. It was a hard struggle. But I have again found my faith in my God.

The same day in a farewell letter to his children, Höss told his eldest son:

Keep your good heart. Become a person who lets himself be guided primarily by warmth and humanity. Learn to think and judge for yourself, responsibly. Don't accept everything without criticism and as absolutely true... The biggest mistake of my life was that I believed everything faithfully which came from the top, and I didn't dare to have the least bit of doubt about the truth of that which was presented to me. ... In all your undertakings, don't just let your mind speak, but listen above all to the voice in your heart.

An evil person with some timely and poignant final thoughts.