The film was actually shot with 10 cameras in and around the house and the cinematographer had them run all at once, with no crew and each take lasting 10 minutes. Glazer called it "Big Brother in the Nazi house", and it let the actors really get deep in character and improvise. That ending also left me speechless. A place of atrocities turned into a museum, the cleaner developing the ability to almost turn a blind eye like the committers of said atrocities. A reflection of our modern day and how we can easily create a barrier with the horrors of history and forget that this can easily be repeated and ignored. So powerful.
Glazer said that the sound was essentially a separate film all on its own. And the girl who left fruits is based on a real person. Her name was Aleksandra Kolodziejczuk, and they used her dress and bicycle for those scenes.
I have been telling every film friend I know that The Zone of Interest and The Act of Killing are perfect companion pieces. Two of the most bold and unforgettable movies I have had the privilege (and in some ways, misfortune) to experience in my life.
as a late 20's dude, I shared a whole old-timey town hall movie theatre with an elderly couple behind me. we met at the door after the credits rolled and just shook our heads - no words for this film
It's one of the best crafted movies all the time. Kudos to the director and the technical crew. It's an astounding depiction which leaves a gives a deeper spine chilling experience of the atrocities without even showing the actual brutal scenes. The team deserves a standing ovation!👏👏
Saw this in cinema twice, 2nd time in an amazing Atmos cinema, and it still haunts me. From everything like the ambient sound, to the dialogue of the characters and how "real" it feels. Should be a mandatory watch for anyone!
One aspect I love about the film is the lack of close-ups. This movie is not interested in glamorization-neither the characters or even the events happening-instead the cold dissonance is the only way to objectively process the mundanity of these terrible lives. The intimate banal family drama of the household is no more significant or emphasized than the horrors happening off screen. It’s incredible filmmaking and restraint on one of the darkest chapters of our history.
The parallel to "funny games" you saw is very interesting. The director of that movie -Austrian filmmaker Michael Haneke - also did a film on pre-war Germany featuring this films main actor Christian Friedel called "the White Ribbon". Which is highly recommended and also fits the history genre. Anyways, great insight once again. Have a great day :)
The director Jonathan Glazer won an Academy Award for this film and in his speech he said, " All our choices were made to reflect and confront us in the present - not to say, “Look what they did then,” rather, “Look what we do now.” - He went on to draw an analogy between the film where seemingly normal people fail to react to a horror and massacres in the concentration camp next door and now when seemingly normal people ignore another horror in the massacre of Palestinians by their occupiers. His speech did not go over well among many in Hollywood and was condemned by many as being anti-semitic (he is Jewish himself btw). Brave man. He also made a couple of other films worth watching, Sexy Beast and Under the Skin. Both excellent.
He took a willfully blind moral relativist position. He didn't bother to acknowledge that the current war started with a large scale terrorist attack from a group that has in its charter and stated goals annihilation of the Jewish population of Israel and then the world, one that the Nazis would have been proud of. He didn't acknowledge that armed men broke into an internationally recognized border and then went from house to house murdering, torturing, raping, and kidnapping mostly Jewish civilians on a scale not seen since the Holocaust. He didn't acknowledge that people who had survived Auschwitz met their ends in the same way they had avoided back then in what was depicted by the sounds of this movie. Then, he compared those trying to fight the perpetrators of that (who say they will do the same again and again if left in power) to the Nazis who did their actions for no reason at all except for racial hatred . According to his logic , the Allies should have never done what was necessary to win WWII, and thereby end the Holocaust, as too many Axis Power civilians died. The definition of genocide has become politicized and seems to have moved from intentionally trying to wipe out a people group as depicted here to just massive civilian deaths in war, even those caused by illegally using them as human shields, and apparently even if an army has the lowest civilian/combatant death ratio ever in urban warfare. By those standards the events in this movie should have been allowed to continue until every Jew in Europe was dead, with it then spreading to N Africa and the Middle East (as was the plan). That's antisemitic, as it's the type of morality (seemingly to particularly apply if Jews are being slaughtered), that would have led to the annihilation of more than half of all Jews on the planet (instead of a third), and which would currently lead to more dying in this conflict. However, that's apparently irrelevant so long as the civilians on the other side who want Jews killed and many of whom participated in the massacre or are holding hostages are protected. Sorry, that's a twisted moral position.
@@Ashmo613Israel has killed well over 30 times the number of civilians that were killed on October 7th most of them being children. They have destroyed every hospital and school in Gaza, mass rape has been perpetrated against Palestinian prisoners. That you can consider Oct 7th this great horror but not the past 11 months of horror inflicted upon the Palestinians shows how you have completely dehumanized them. It requires that you think the lives of Palestinians have no value. Civilian casualties are never acceptable, that you have convinced yourself that thousands of innocent deaths Is justifiable Is truly horrifying. Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people. Comparing Israels actions and the rhetoric of dehumanizing millions of people to the Nazis is more than apt.
@@thegrimner On October 6th, Gaza had a steadily increasing population, the 39th largest increase of any part of the world. On October 6th, around 150,00 Gazans were working in Israel for better wages an in better conditions than they could at home. On October 6th, billions of aid had gone to Gaza through Israel, (which of course had been confiscated by Hamas and used on weaponry). On Oct. 6th, there was a ceasefire, which is what the world sees to be clamoring for now but Hamas didn't want when there was a chance to kill Israelis. The Nazis didn't provide Jews with aid. They didn't employ them to help their financial situation. They didn't bring in and treat Jews in German hospitals at little to no cost .Nazis systematically exterminated Jews in numbers on a daily basis that equal the entire civilian toll of the Gaza war. Just look at a population graph of Jews in Europe during WWII and every other actual genocide. Note the dramatic dips in population in contrast to the steady rise among Palestinians. Israel has increased the conditions and life expectancy in the whole area, thereby assisting an increase in population. People trying to exterminate others don't do any of that. Calling someone a Nazi and saying a situation is the same means nothing when the facts actually point to something else. This is why the director of the film caused controversy, because he also said stupid things which resonated with emotions but were not based on the facts of the situation.
@@Ashmo613what a load of bs zionist propaganda. Do you think the MOUNTAIN of historic evidence of oppression and massacres from the terrorist state of Israel inflicted upon the Palestinian people - ANYONE will believe your pink glassed attempt at historic revisionism??? Life was too perfect for the Palestinians, but then they went and did oct 7 and ruined it for themselves. It’s like what the zios say: we hate them for making us kill them.
This film made me feel a sense of hopelessness that I've only felt a handful of times, another film I can think that left me absolutely cold is Come and See. This, to me, was the best film of 2023 by a long shot. Watching it in the cinema with a very good sound system...my god.
@@JamesVSCinema have you already seen "The Captain" from 2017? It is based on a true story about 22 year old german deserter Willi Herold during the final days of WW2. He's finding a uniform of a german captain, puts it on and starts initiating mass killings among other german deserters in a german army penal camp. After the war he was captured by british troops and sentenced to death and hanged for his war crimes.
Yeah this film is something you need to listen closely and focus visually on every aspect. It's crazy detailed. I understand why this was Oscar nominated Add on: This whole experience made me feel like crap. I never felt anything good with this family and I prayed for their downfall. The river scene shook me
They were actually given special permission to film at their ACTUAL house next door. This was a real family and this was their real living situation, lot of this film was based off of the actual pictures they had and memorabilia. I saw this moive in theaters at 9am and it completely shook my entire day and for the next 6 months I couldn't get this movie out of my mind or system. Such a horrific but brutally honest moive about the banality of evil.
One critic described it as a movie about the "banality of evil", its the tagline everyone went with then and I think it eloquently summarizes what this movie is about.
Little unfun fact of the film. The line "I got that jacket from Canada" references to Kanada, the well stole goods area at Auschwitz. This movie won for best sound design for a good reason. I think it's a bit long/would have worked better as a short film but the sound design and cinematography are excellent.
This and Under the Skin (Jonathan Glazer's previous film) are two of my favorites of all time. I can't wait to see what he does next, brilliant director
Thank you for reacting to this film, it hasn't left my mind since I watched it earlier this year; sadly, it feels more relevant than ever. I really believe this film will be considered as a masterpiece in the years to come.
As a Jewish person this movie is much more of a horror than any movie with demons ever will be. The human imagination is impressive but when it comes to the potential depravity of man it usually doesn't come close to encapsulating what we have "achieved" in real life.
The degree that I was impacted by this movie has gotta be in the top 1% of stuff I’ve watched. That ending with him vomiting and then walking into darkness was just perfect
This was my favorite film of 2023. I think that it is an absolute masterpiece. Between this and Under the Skin (one of my all-time favorite movies), Jonathan Glazer is one of the most exciting filmmakers working today.
What courage to react to the Zone of Interest. This film is quite immersive. And of course, it deals with a brutal subject known to all as the Holocaust but in an innovative way, from a psychological, intuitive, clandestine, symbolic and agonizing perspective. And I have something else to say, the enemy does not always show his face, the enemy ignores what he sees and what he hears, the enemy endures the torture of others, the enemy looks for excuses for his atrocities in apparent normality.
I appreciate you reviewing this absolutely distressing piece of work. Not a film you can easily grab a screenshot for an enticing thumbnail. So props to you. This is one of two films I don't think I'll be able to watch in its entirety again.
This was an immersive theater experience. Not a movie I'm keen to watch again anytime soon, but one that stuck with me for months after watching. A masterpiece in my opinion and was the best movie I watched that came out last year.
Another film that handles this subject and period of time well is Son of Saul. Similarly to this, a lot of the main atrocities are in ear shot but just off camera, often out of focus or out of sight (for the most part).
A powerful study in the banality of horror, of indiference and lack of empathy. The parallels with present world events are chilling. Just to show humanity learns nothing from history.
This is an abstract film, but it's also extremely accurate. They filmed it in a set-dressed abandoned building very similar to the real thing 200m down the road from the real house (next to Auschwitz I).
@@SallyMankus130 I would argue the artistic flourishes - the solid red screen, the IR photography, the whole modern section, the ending with Hoess dry heaving (which is there to make a point rather than anything within the world of the movie) and the almost complete absence of traditional narrative. Those kinds of things are more commonly seen in an art installation than a narrative film (which this barely is).
Yes! My favourite film of 2023! I hate to word it this way, but it's such a beautifully devastating piece of work. More people need to react to this! 😭
I experienced this film in theater alone. The sound design of the camp over the wall is horrifying and incredible. The discomfort and disturbing feelings are strongly amplified. I live in a place that is at risk of being invaded by neighboring country, so this movie actually scared me beyond description haha. 😞 Thanks for reacting this movie. It means a lot.
I think the directors speech at the Oscar’s really highlights how sadly relevant this film is today. The genocide in Gaza carries on while life continues as normal for the rest of us. Never again means never again for everyone.
so difficult to watch the film and understand how that same stuff applies today, the same people who should know better having learned absolutely nothing.
@gorvnice the idea that any group "should know better" misses how all encompassing these ideologies are. There are people from all backgrounds whether that be cultural, ethnic or religious that fall victim to bigoted and supremacist beliefs. The moment we conceive as any group as above bigotry or oppressive actions we forget that anyone can find themselves going down this path in the "right" circumstances.
@@nothajzl it always good to remember that not all Jews are Zionist’s and not all Zionist’s are Jews. As much as the Israeli government would like to claim the atrocities of the holocaust as justification for their atrocities now.
I remember getting to the part at 11:44. what an incredibly terrifying moment, and it being only audio makes it even worse. One of the most horrifying non horror movies out there.
One of the most powerful films I’ve ever seen. I felt so disgusting in the theater I almost got up and walked out. Really can’t describe it to people but it’s a truly great film that everyone should watch. Jonathan Glazer is a fantastic director if you haven’t seen his 3 other films.
sandra hüller's performance in this is so finely crafted. just the way she moves - she sort of lumbers unsteadily, stomping, graceless... compared to her role in "anatomy of a fall" which came out the same year?? it's just a different woman. the physicality she has in this to make this woman seem so mundane is incredible
There is this book of short stories from the testimonies of victims and survivors of the Nazi atrocities in Poland, "Medallions" by Zofia Nałkowska. In this book she portraits all the horrors and inhuman evil that are not shown in the movie. It is a must read, due to its importance as a historical document. One of the most revealing stories, the one that I instantly remembered when I was watching and trying to understand this film, was the second story, "The Cemetery Lady", where we read the testimony of an anti-semitic cemetery lady that (as the family in this movie), at the other side of the wall during the liquidation of the Warsaw Ghetto, and did nothing. For me, these next passages are akin with the purpose of the movie: "Reality is endurable because it its selective. it draws near in fragmented events and tattered reports, in echoing shots, in the distant smoke drifts, in the fires which, history criptically says, ""turn into ashes". This reality, at once distant and played out against the wall, is not real-that is, until the mind struggles to gather it up, arrest, and understand it". The last page of the story is basically the same things you hear and do not see in the movie, all the atrocities that reach your ear and you know what they are. At the end of the story, Nałkowska again writes: "Reality is bearable when something prevent us from knowing it completely. It draws near in fragmented events, in tattered reports. We know of the peaceful death marches of unresisting people. Of the leaps into flame, of the leaps into the abyss. But, then, we are on this side of the wall. The cemetery lady knew and heard, too. But, for her, the matter was interjected with so many commentaries that it had lost its reality". Jonathan Glazer s work of drawing the attention of the viewer and making them reconstruct the reality and history of this violence, without making violence entertaining or glorifying it (as Haneke said about another movie...), as he also makes this film a historical device, is truly and admirable humanitarian labor of denouncing dehumanisation, and he stands by the contemporary relevance of his message as he did in his Oscar acceptance speech.
Anotha one to the history classes! Amazing movie. I've seem some reviews associating it to be a representation of the hanna arendt's concept "bananality of the evil". Great reaction and commentaries, as always! Take care
When I watched this i was fascinated by how it was shot. Static camera, minimal or no crew, just let actor do their thing. Amazed with the set and setting. Never once occurred to me that 'of course they didn't build all those buildings behind the wall'. The cg is incredible in this. So subtle and hidden, used to hide cameras and equipment.
At the fishing scene at 12:10 you see the ashes of the victims in the river flowing downstream. They put the ashes in the river. No rumbling noise heard, but the results are shown…
As great as OPPENHEIMER is, I personally feel that Jonathan Glazer should have won Best Director for this. Despite this, however, I for one am SO GLAD that this film won the Oscar for Sound in a massive surprise (OPPENHEIMER was the favorite to win, and my jaw literally dropped when the winner was announced). This is jointly my #1 film of the year 2023 alongside KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON. 2023 was a great year for examination of the dark side of humanity's quest for power.
I mean, if we're comparing sound mixing and sound design, this movie is definitely streets ahead of that 3-hour trailer that was Oppenheimer. But I think Nolan did a pretty decent keeping all those scenes from different timelines coherent.
@@MamadNobari Nolan definitely deserved the nomination, but I think Glazer deserved the win mainly because the tightrope balancing act required for the execution had to be pitch perfect for the desired point to come across effectively, which it succeeded in doing.
Jonathan Glazer is such an amazing director. Under the Skin. Sexy Beast, and Birth are some of my favorite movies. I hope Birth gets a Blu-Ray release. Shout out to the Oscar-winning sound design.
A greatly haunting film. Showing that monsters can look and act like your average person beside and around one of the most horrific events in human history. This film stays with me. Thanks for watching and giving your thoughts.
I highly recommend Conspiracy (2001) with Kenneth Branagh and Stanley Tucci. It's one of my FAVORITE horror films, though it's not classified as a horror film. It's the essence of the banality of evil. It all takes place at one house and a majority takes place in one room. The script was taken from minutes from the actual event (the Wansee Conference) and it is the kind of film I think all actors should see. It shows how frightening subtly can be.
The actor said the director’s guidance to him for the wrenching at the end was that we can tell ourselves whatever we need to in order to do terrible things, but our body’s physical responses never lie.
Watched this twice now, and still marvel at it. To me, ZONE OF INTEREST and PHOENIX are distinct in that they’re Holocaust films without a single on-screen death, yet they’re still profoundly moving and disturbing.
If there is one film that perfectly conjres up the concept of the banality of evil it is this one. Not a film I'll rush to watch again but important and powerful.
In theaters, watching this movie was an incredible experience. As another commenter mentioned, the background noise felt like it could belong to a different movie. The fact that we never saw anything directly allowed our imaginations to fill in the gaps, making the movie more intense. My favorite scene was when they showed the cleaning and long shots of the museum, and then abruptly cut to the main character alone and in silence. It was a great way to illustrate that even though this evil could not flourish, it still left a lasting and haunting impact. Also, the part at 9:01 completely reminds me of "The Conspiracy" and how the entire movie was centered around mechanized and efficient genocide.
An exercise in complacency. It's a sad cyclical thing pave the way for atrocities to happen. It was a deeply disturbing and frustrating watch because it showcases this insane moral flexibility and willful ignorance to evil being committed. The crazy part is that this is based on truth. There was a family living next door to Auschwitz. This is an important film because I hope that it challenges our sense of right and wrong, and empathy in a cold calculating and monstrous setting that isn't too far removed these days.
Might be the best non-documentary about the Holocaust I've seen. This one stayed with me for days after I saw it. I would've loved to know what Stanley Kubrick would have thought about this movie. He abandoned his Holocaust project, "The Aryan Papers" (adapted from the book "War Time Lies") in part because he realized trying to dramatize what the Holocaust was truly about was beyond him. Had he lived to have read Martin Amis's novel, from which this film is based, I wonder if he would changed his mind and chose to adapt this book instead.
Death Is My Trade (1977). Movie “Death is my Trade” centres on the life of Rudolph Höss, the commandant of Auschwitz II-Birkenau for the majority of its existence. Remember seeing it years ago. Peace out.
This is like two movies at once, the one happening in front of your eyes, and the one being told through the sound design, and I swear, without seeing anything, just hearing it, was even more horrific because your imagination does all the work. I nearly had a panic attack at the movie theater.
i’m new to the channel and love the movie discourse, but it’s andrei TARKOVSKY not TRAVOSKY, also if you liked this film watch alain resnais “night and fog” it’s under an hour i believe
I genuinely think this is one of the most important films made in years. And truly a horror film with a capital H, unlike anything I have seen. Consequently this film has stuck with me like few others. Glazer’s choices are bold and uncompromising. I believe he is one of our most important working directors, and the closest we have to carrying Kubrick’s legacy forward.
One of the saddest things about the film is that when Jonathan Glazer, a Jew, spoke at the Oscars and called for peace he was roundly criticised. Those who did so clearly hadn't absorbed the true underlying message in the film.
Another unfortunately harrowing film is 'The Grey Zone'. There is again an undercurrent of sound which permeates the whole film. The 'Zone of Interest' is Auschwitz I. 'The grey Zone' is Auschwitz II (Birkenau). Great actors with harvey keitel, Steve Buscemi, David Arquette. Directed by Tim Blake Nelson. PS. love your take on the mechanics of a movie.
Hoss and his family (and his mother in law) were sickened by the large amounts of ash (aka murdered and incinerated people) they’d ingested from being so close. This is why his MIL left I think, unless I’m miss remembering which is possible, not out of any sense of morality. The end where he stares into the camera will always haunt my nightmares.
I loved this movie. Having seen so many movies about the war they tend to become formulaic. This one really hit different because of the casual banality of evil. Regular people that were doing the most atrocious things.
I listened to the closing thoughts. I think the word being sought is "juxtaposition." The desperate attempt at normal life juxtaposed with the sound of horror. The focus on the banal pursuits going on in the home life, with the hint of hell going on just out of sight but not out of mind. May the souls of the holy martyrs know everlasting peace.
one of the darkest films ever produced. when we look back at historical atrocities we always ask "how could people let this happen?" and the answer given here is that people are capable of adapting to anything, as long as their own lives feel stable and comfortable. goodness and empathy and humanity are no match for the power of a system in motion. all it takes is a job and a wall
Seeing this film, made me think that Jonathan Glazer literally made a clinical observation of human behavior. Like we are witnessing and studying the normalization of how cynical and brutal can people can be.
This film is a horror film, using horror in an usual and brilliant way: implied horror. Because you never *see* the atrocities; it all happens behind a wall. It's all implied. And only if you have the historical knowledge to know what's happening. This film is a masterpiece and also one of the most horrifying, most difficult films I've ever seen. The sound design is sickeningly brilliant. As to why: the director said himself, this film is about dehumanization and the atrocities it enables; this process is not just a past thing, a holocaust thing, it's happened all through human history, and IS STILL HAPPENING. So why this story? Because its timeless. Because its deeply and depressingly human.
I thought the role of the animals was brilliant in this movie. They are the only ones that react to the gunshots, which is one of many illustrations of how unnatural the situation is.
I had to skip through this movie because it was so horrific - the sounds and the absolute OBLIVIOUSNESS of the family to the horror they were living right next to (and running). It was so disturbing the way it was shot (and told) - like you said - like we're just on a tripod watching - and we are powerless to do anything about it. Finally, I took the low growl that went on through most of the movie as like "evil" or "the devil". I didn't really connect it to the burning - but you could be right that it was that. Great to see your reaction to this movie that I *just tried to watch (only about 1/4 of). 🙌🏽
The general gagging at the end - I saw this as a representation of evil coming out of him. just as it cuts to the modern update of his "work" which is now just rubble and remnants. we see him hacking and gagging. just a visceral juxtaposition
I haven’t had the guts to actually watch this. But I have seen videos on it. I think the point is the banality of evil and how this actually can happen. But people who have seen it may disagree.
The film was actually shot with 10 cameras in and around the house and the cinematographer had them run all at once, with no crew and each take lasting 10 minutes. Glazer called it "Big Brother in the Nazi house", and it let the actors really get deep in character and improvise.
That ending also left me speechless. A place of atrocities turned into a museum, the cleaner developing the ability to almost turn a blind eye like the committers of said atrocities. A reflection of our modern day and how we can easily create a barrier with the horrors of history and forget that this can easily be repeated and ignored. So powerful.
Glazer said that the sound was essentially a separate film all on its own. And the girl who left fruits is based on a real person. Her name was Aleksandra Kolodziejczuk, and they used her dress and bicycle for those scenes.
You should see “The Act of Killing”, the retching is a direct reference to the ending of that film.
All the trigger warnings for this one holy crap
Brutal movie.
I have been telling every film friend I know that The Zone of Interest and The Act of Killing are perfect companion pieces. Two of the most bold and unforgettable movies I have had the privilege (and in some ways, misfortune) to experience in my life.
Yes. Would be interesting too to watch James' insight on a documentary. One of the most important documentary ever imo as an Indonesian...
Films that make you feel like you've been gut-punched. Cathartic.
as a late 20's dude, I shared a whole old-timey town hall movie theatre with an elderly couple behind me. we met at the door after the credits rolled and just shook our heads - no words for this film
It's one of the best crafted movies all the time. Kudos to the director and the technical crew. It's an astounding depiction which leaves a gives a deeper spine chilling experience of the atrocities without even showing the actual brutal scenes. The team deserves a standing ovation!👏👏
Saw this in cinema twice, 2nd time in an amazing Atmos cinema, and it still haunts me. From everything like the ambient sound, to the dialogue of the characters and how "real" it feels. Should be a mandatory watch for anyone!
Sandra Hüller, who plays the commandant's wife Hedwig, is also incredible in Anatomy of the Fall. I HIGHLY recommend you give it a watch!!
such a good movie
Should've been double nominated >:(
One aspect I love about the film is the lack of close-ups. This movie is not interested in glamorization-neither the characters or even the events happening-instead the cold dissonance is the only way to objectively process the mundanity of these terrible lives. The intimate banal family drama of the household is no more significant or emphasized than the horrors happening off screen. It’s incredible filmmaking and restraint on one of the darkest chapters of our history.
The parallel to "funny games" you saw is very interesting. The director of that movie -Austrian filmmaker Michael Haneke - also did a film on pre-war Germany featuring this films main actor Christian Friedel called "the White Ribbon". Which is highly recommended and also fits the history genre. Anyways, great insight once again. Have a great day :)
The director Jonathan Glazer won an Academy Award for this film and in his speech he said, " All our choices were made to reflect and confront us in the present - not to say, “Look what they did then,” rather, “Look what we do now.” - He went on to draw an analogy between the film where seemingly normal people fail to react to a horror and massacres in the concentration camp next door and now when seemingly normal people ignore another horror in the massacre of Palestinians by their occupiers. His speech did not go over well among many in Hollywood and was condemned by many as being anti-semitic (he is Jewish himself btw). Brave man.
He also made a couple of other films worth watching, Sexy Beast and Under the Skin. Both excellent.
He took a willfully blind moral relativist position. He didn't bother to acknowledge that the current war started with a large scale terrorist attack from a group that has in its charter and stated goals annihilation of the Jewish population of Israel and then the world, one that the Nazis would have been proud of. He didn't acknowledge that armed men broke into an internationally recognized border and then went from house to house murdering, torturing, raping, and kidnapping mostly Jewish civilians on a scale not seen since the Holocaust. He didn't acknowledge that people who had survived Auschwitz met their ends in the same way they had avoided back then in what was depicted by the sounds of this movie. Then, he compared those trying to fight the perpetrators of that (who say they will do the same again and again if left in power) to the Nazis who did their actions for no reason at all except for racial hatred . According to his logic , the Allies should have never done what was necessary to win WWII, and thereby end the Holocaust, as too many Axis Power civilians died. The definition of genocide has become politicized and seems to have moved from intentionally trying to wipe out a people group as depicted here to just massive civilian deaths in war, even those caused by illegally using them as human shields, and apparently even if an army has the lowest civilian/combatant death ratio ever in urban warfare. By those standards the events in this movie should have been allowed to continue until every Jew in Europe was dead, with it then spreading to N Africa and the Middle East (as was the plan). That's antisemitic, as it's the type of morality (seemingly to particularly apply if Jews are being slaughtered), that would have led to the annihilation of more than half of all Jews on the planet (instead of a third), and which would currently lead to more dying in this conflict. However, that's apparently irrelevant so long as the civilians on the other side who want Jews killed and many of whom participated in the massacre or are holding hostages are protected. Sorry, that's a twisted moral position.
@@Ashmo613Israel has killed well over 30 times the number of civilians that were killed on October 7th most of them being children. They have destroyed every hospital and school in Gaza, mass rape has been perpetrated against Palestinian prisoners. That you can consider Oct 7th this great horror but not the past 11 months of horror inflicted upon the Palestinians shows how you have completely dehumanized them. It requires that you think the lives of Palestinians have no value. Civilian casualties are never acceptable, that you have convinced yourself that thousands of innocent deaths Is justifiable Is truly horrifying. Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people. Comparing Israels actions and the rhetoric of dehumanizing millions of people to the Nazis is more than apt.
@@Ashmo613October 7 happened because October 6 was happening. And October 6 is not so much unlike the movie. You just happen to defend the Nazis.
@@thegrimner On October 6th, Gaza had a steadily increasing population, the 39th largest increase of any part of the world. On October 6th, around 150,00 Gazans were working in Israel for better wages an in better conditions than they could at home. On October 6th, billions of aid had gone to Gaza through Israel, (which of course had been confiscated by Hamas and used on weaponry). On Oct. 6th, there was a ceasefire, which is what the world sees to be clamoring for now but Hamas didn't want when there was a chance to kill Israelis. The Nazis didn't provide Jews with aid. They didn't employ them to help their financial situation. They didn't bring in and treat Jews in German hospitals at little to no cost .Nazis systematically exterminated Jews in numbers on a daily basis that equal the entire civilian toll of the Gaza war. Just look at a population graph of Jews in Europe during WWII and every other actual genocide. Note the dramatic dips in population in contrast to the steady rise among Palestinians. Israel has increased the conditions and life expectancy in the whole area, thereby assisting an increase in population. People trying to exterminate others don't do any of that. Calling someone a Nazi and saying a situation is the same means nothing when the facts actually point to something else. This is why the director of the film caused controversy, because he also said stupid things which resonated with emotions but were not based on the facts of the situation.
@@Ashmo613what a load of bs zionist propaganda.
Do you think the MOUNTAIN of historic evidence of oppression and massacres from the terrorist state of Israel inflicted upon the Palestinian people - ANYONE will believe your pink glassed attempt at historic revisionism???
Life was too perfect for the Palestinians, but then they went and did oct 7 and ruined it for themselves. It’s like what the zios say: we hate them for making us kill them.
I think you hit the nail on the head with the "camera on a tripod" feel. Very much feels as if you're just there to witness what's happening.
This film made me feel a sense of hopelessness that I've only felt a handful of times, another film I can think that left me absolutely cold is Come and See. This, to me, was the best film of 2023 by a long shot. Watching it in the cinema with a very good sound system...my god.
Come and See was absolutely brutal..
@@JamesVSCinema have you already seen "The Captain" from 2017? It is based on a true story about 22 year old german deserter Willi Herold during the final days of WW2. He's finding a uniform of a german captain, puts it on and starts initiating mass killings among other german deserters in a german army penal camp. After the war he was captured by british troops and sentenced to death and hanged for his war crimes.
Yeah this film is something you need to listen closely and focus visually on every aspect. It's crazy detailed. I understand why this was Oscar nominated
Add on: This whole experience made me feel like crap. I never felt anything good with this family and I prayed for their downfall. The river scene shook me
This might be the earliest I've ever been to a new video of yours - watched this film earlier this year and it is incredible.
Nice to see ya! Definitely a watch I’ll remember.
They were actually given special permission to film at their ACTUAL house next door. This was a real family and this was their real living situation, lot of this film was based off of the actual pictures they had and memorabilia. I saw this moive in theaters at 9am and it completely shook my entire day and for the next 6 months I couldn't get this movie out of my mind or system. Such a horrific but brutally honest moive about the banality of evil.
One critic described it as a movie about the "banality of evil", its the tagline everyone went with then and I think it eloquently summarizes what this movie is about.
After having watched almost all of them, this is hands down the best Holocaust film ever made to date. A truly haunting and truly necessary film.
I think the director said that the real movie is happening offscreen.
The first and only time an Always Sunny reference will be made during Zone of Interest. “The implication”
Little unfun fact of the film. The line "I got that jacket from Canada" references to Kanada, the well stole goods area at Auschwitz.
This movie won for best sound design for a good reason. I think it's a bit long/would have worked better as a short film but the sound design and cinematography are excellent.
@18:37 It's a thermal camera if I'm not mistaken.
This and Under the Skin (Jonathan Glazer's previous film) are two of my favorites of all time. I can't wait to see what he does next, brilliant director
Thank you for reacting to this film, it hasn't left my mind since I watched it earlier this year; sadly, it feels more relevant than ever. I really believe this film will be considered as a masterpiece in the years to come.
"It's shot like a horror film." - In a way, it *is* a horror film.
As a Jewish person this movie is much more of a horror than any movie with demons ever will be. The human imagination is impressive but when it comes to the potential depravity of man it usually doesn't come close to encapsulating what we have "achieved" in real life.
The sound is a constant reminder that these people are living next to a camp where one million people were murdered.
The degree that I was impacted by this movie has gotta be in the top 1% of stuff I’ve watched. That ending with him vomiting and then walking into darkness was just perfect
This was my favorite film of 2023. I think that it is an absolute masterpiece. Between this and Under the Skin (one of my all-time favorite movies), Jonathan Glazer is one of the most exciting filmmakers working today.
What courage to react to the Zone of Interest. This film is quite immersive. And of course, it deals with a brutal subject known to all as the Holocaust but in an innovative way, from a psychological, intuitive, clandestine, symbolic and agonizing perspective.
And I have something else to say, the enemy does not always show his face, the enemy ignores what he sees and what he hears, the enemy endures the torture of others, the enemy looks for excuses for his atrocities in apparent normality.
15:00 There is the smokestack of one of the trains bringing victims to the camp.
I appreciate you reviewing this absolutely distressing piece of work. Not a film you can easily grab a screenshot for an enticing thumbnail. So props to you. This is one of two films I don't think I'll be able to watch in its entirety again.
The director wanted to make it as real as it was, and as modern as today. He wanted you to have the realization. This is still happening today.
yes it happens in Gaza today. By the country where the victims of this movie live.
This was an immersive theater experience. Not a movie I'm keen to watch again anytime soon, but one that stuck with me for months after watching. A masterpiece in my opinion and was the best movie I watched that came out last year.
Another film that handles this subject and period of time well is Son of Saul. Similarly to this, a lot of the main atrocities are in ear shot but just off camera, often out of focus or out of sight (for the most part).
This is a PG-13 film with an NC-17 hidden inside of it.
A powerful study in the banality of horror, of indiference and lack of empathy. The parallels with present world events are chilling. Just to show humanity learns nothing from history.
This is an abstract film, but it's also extremely accurate. They filmed it in a set-dressed abandoned building very similar to the real thing 200m down the road from the real house (next to Auschwitz I).
What is abstract about it? It's a good film but it's very obvious.
@@SallyMankus130 I would argue the artistic flourishes - the solid red screen, the IR photography, the whole modern section, the ending with Hoess dry heaving (which is there to make a point rather than anything within the world of the movie) and the almost complete absence of traditional narrative. Those kinds of things are more commonly seen in an art installation than a narrative film (which this barely is).
Yes! My favourite film of 2023! I hate to word it this way, but it's such a beautifully devastating piece of work. More people need to react to this! 😭
I experienced this film in theater alone. The sound design of the camp over the wall is horrifying and incredible. The discomfort and disturbing feelings are strongly amplified. I live in a place that is at risk of being invaded by neighboring country, so this movie actually scared me beyond description haha. 😞 Thanks for reacting this movie. It means a lot.
There's a great 45 minute podcast/interview with the sound designer Johnnie Burn here on YT about creating the soundscape for the film.
I think the directors speech at the Oscar’s really highlights how sadly relevant this film is today. The genocide in Gaza carries on while life continues as normal for the rest of us. Never again means never again for everyone.
so difficult to watch the film and understand how that same stuff applies today, the same people who should know better having learned absolutely nothing.
@gorvnice the idea that any group "should know better" misses how all encompassing these ideologies are. There are people from all backgrounds whether that be cultural, ethnic or religious that fall victim to bigoted and supremacist beliefs. The moment we conceive as any group as above bigotry or oppressive actions we forget that anyone can find themselves going down this path in the "right" circumstances.
@@ryanfliegelman3166 i agree completely. its what this film does show. its humans doing this, regardless of nationality, race, etc
I just can’t fathom how someone who has gone through such evils can, after 70 years, inflict the same or worse evils on other people.
@@nothajzl it always good to remember that not all Jews are Zionist’s and not all Zionist’s are Jews. As much as the Israeli government would like to claim the atrocities of the holocaust as justification for their atrocities now.
This was an experience...
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Have a great day!
At the end, either he was really being sick on camera, or that’s the best acting I’ve ever seen
One of my favorites from 2023. I appreciate you watching some of the less mainstream films.
I remember getting to the part at 11:44. what an incredibly terrifying moment, and it being only audio makes it even worse.
One of the most horrifying non horror movies out there.
We are all seeing images and stories about current-day atrocities. How are we different from the family in this film?
The hard cut to him staring back at the camera in the final scene reminded me so much of the ending from Memories of Murder.
I went to see a screening of this earlier this year, and it hit me like a Mack Truck.
One of the most powerful films I’ve ever seen. I felt so disgusting in the theater I almost got up and walked out. Really can’t describe it to people but it’s a truly great film that everyone should watch.
Jonathan Glazer is a fantastic director if you haven’t seen his 3 other films.
sandra hüller's performance in this is so finely crafted. just the way she moves - she sort of lumbers unsteadily, stomping, graceless... compared to her role in "anatomy of a fall" which came out the same year?? it's just a different woman. the physicality she has in this to make this woman seem so mundane is incredible
There is this book of short stories from the testimonies of victims and survivors of the Nazi atrocities in Poland, "Medallions" by Zofia Nałkowska. In this book she portraits all the horrors and inhuman evil that are not shown in the movie. It is a must read, due to its importance as a historical document.
One of the most revealing stories, the one that I instantly remembered when I was watching and trying to understand this film, was the second story, "The Cemetery Lady", where we read the testimony of an anti-semitic cemetery lady that (as the family in this movie), at the other side of the wall during the liquidation of the Warsaw Ghetto, and did nothing. For me, these next passages are akin with the purpose of the movie:
"Reality is endurable because it its selective. it draws near in fragmented events and tattered reports, in echoing shots, in the distant smoke drifts, in the fires which, history criptically says, ""turn into ashes". This reality, at once distant and played out against the wall, is not real-that is, until the mind struggles to gather it up, arrest, and understand it".
The last page of the story is basically the same things you hear and do not see in the movie, all the atrocities that reach your ear and you know what they are.
At the end of the story, Nałkowska again writes: "Reality is bearable when something prevent us from knowing it completely. It draws near in fragmented events, in tattered reports. We know of the peaceful death marches of unresisting people. Of the leaps into flame, of the leaps into the abyss. But, then, we are on this side of the wall.
The cemetery lady knew and heard, too. But, for her, the matter was interjected with so many commentaries that it had lost its reality".
Jonathan Glazer s work of drawing the attention of the viewer and making them reconstruct the reality and history of this violence, without making violence entertaining or glorifying it (as Haneke said about another movie...), as he also makes this film a historical device, is truly and admirable humanitarian labor of denouncing dehumanisation, and he stands by the contemporary relevance of his message as he did in his Oscar acceptance speech.
Saw this in the theater and it was an experience. Not just the sound, but the darkness at the beginning and everything made the atmosphere heavy.
Anotha one to the history classes! Amazing movie. I've seem some reviews associating it to be a representation of the hanna arendt's concept "bananality of the evil". Great reaction and commentaries, as always! Take care
When I watched this i was fascinated by how it was shot. Static camera, minimal or no crew, just let actor do their thing. Amazed with the set and setting. Never once occurred to me that 'of course they didn't build all those buildings behind the wall'. The cg is incredible in this. So subtle and hidden, used to hide cameras and equipment.
the sound horror of the zone of interest is brutal
I have never been afraid of a Hitler or Stalin or Mao. I fear the millions of ordinary people who are committed to do the dirty work.
At the fishing scene at 12:10 you see the ashes of the victims in the river flowing downstream. They put the ashes in the river. No rumbling noise heard, but the results are shown…
As great as OPPENHEIMER is, I personally feel that Jonathan Glazer should have won Best Director for this. Despite this, however, I for one am SO GLAD that this film won the Oscar for Sound in a massive surprise (OPPENHEIMER was the favorite to win, and my jaw literally dropped when the winner was announced).
This is jointly my #1 film of the year 2023 alongside KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON. 2023 was a great year for examination of the dark side of humanity's quest for power.
i tought the sound was terrible
Massive win for its sound design.
I mean, if we're comparing sound mixing and sound design, this movie is definitely streets ahead of that 3-hour trailer that was Oppenheimer. But I think Nolan did a pretty decent keeping all those scenes from different timelines coherent.
@@MamadNobari Nolan definitely deserved the nomination, but I think Glazer deserved the win mainly because the tightrope balancing act required for the execution had to be pitch perfect for the desired point to come across effectively, which it succeeded in doing.
@ignaciod06 lol, okay dude.
Jonathan Glazer is such an amazing director. Under the Skin. Sexy Beast, and Birth are some of my favorite movies. I hope Birth gets a Blu-Ray release.
Shout out to the Oscar-winning sound design.
A greatly haunting film. Showing that monsters can look and act like your average person beside and around one of the most horrific events in human history. This film stays with me. Thanks for watching and giving your thoughts.
The director Jonathan Glazer had a great Oscar's speech.
Masterpiece in every sense of the word
I highly recommend Conspiracy (2001) with Kenneth Branagh and Stanley Tucci. It's one of my FAVORITE horror films, though it's not classified as a horror film. It's the essence of the banality of evil. It all takes place at one house and a majority takes place in one room. The script was taken from minutes from the actual event (the Wansee Conference) and it is the kind of film I think all actors should see. It shows how frightening subtly can be.
I saw an interesting outlook on the ending in that Hoss descending the stairs surrounded by darkness is his descent into Hell
The only thrill I got from this movie was walking away from it feeling like I had just seen an important, genuine masterpiece
Best movie of last year
Conspiracy (2001) is another movie that may be of intereest.
The negative look is created with a thermal imaging camera.
The actor said the director’s guidance to him for the wrenching at the end was that we can tell ourselves whatever we need to in order to do terrible things, but our body’s physical responses never lie.
One of the very best films of the millennium. Maybe the best. Absolutely stunning.
Didn’t win the Oscar for Sound for nothing 🏆
An incredibly haunting cinema experience, quite literally felt sick throughout the entire runtime
Watched this twice now, and still marvel at it. To me, ZONE OF INTEREST and PHOENIX are distinct in that they’re Holocaust films without a single on-screen death, yet they’re still profoundly moving and disturbing.
If there is one film that perfectly conjres up the concept of the banality of evil it is this one. Not a film I'll rush to watch again but important and powerful.
In theaters, watching this movie was an incredible experience. As another commenter mentioned, the background noise felt like it could belong to a different movie. The fact that we never saw anything directly allowed our imaginations to fill in the gaps, making the movie more intense. My favorite scene was when they showed the cleaning and long shots of the museum, and then abruptly cut to the main character alone and in silence. It was a great way to illustrate that even though this evil could not flourish, it still left a lasting and haunting impact. Also, the part at 9:01 completely reminds me of "The Conspiracy" and how the entire movie was centered around mechanized and efficient genocide.
For me, the metaphor is strong with this film when you understand people completely tuning from the suffering of others in our society.
An exercise in complacency. It's a sad cyclical thing pave the way for atrocities to happen. It was a deeply disturbing and frustrating watch because it showcases this insane moral flexibility and willful ignorance to evil being committed. The crazy part is that this is based on truth. There was a family living next door to Auschwitz. This is an important film because I hope that it challenges our sense of right and wrong, and empathy in a cold calculating and monstrous setting that isn't too far removed these days.
Might be the best non-documentary about the Holocaust I've seen. This one stayed with me for days after I saw it. I would've loved to know what Stanley Kubrick would have thought about this movie. He abandoned his Holocaust project, "The Aryan Papers" (adapted from the book "War Time Lies") in part because he realized trying to dramatize what the Holocaust was truly about was beyond him. Had he lived to have read Martin Amis's novel, from which this film is based, I wonder if he would changed his mind and chose to adapt this book instead.
still, great job, James. I enjoyed your shared thoughts.
Ay y'all reflect on your relationship to the land & peoples around you and the history as to why, specially if you're in anyway a settler.
Thanks for watching this, I haven't but now I know I must.
Death Is My Trade (1977). Movie
“Death is my Trade” centres on the life of Rudolph Höss, the commandant of Auschwitz II-Birkenau for the majority of its existence. Remember seeing it years ago. Peace out.
This is like two movies at once, the one happening in front of your eyes, and the one being told through the sound design, and I swear, without seeing anything, just hearing it, was even more horrific because your imagination does all the work. I nearly had a panic attack at the movie theater.
i’m new to the channel and love the movie discourse, but it’s andrei TARKOVSKY not TRAVOSKY, also if you liked this film watch alain resnais “night and fog” it’s under an hour i believe
I hope you do "days of heaven" one day, its another from our boy Terrence Malick
When I sat down to watch this film I thought I was getting something about UFOs. Boy was I wrong😂. But boy was it a great piece of film making.
I genuinely think this is one of the most important films made in years. And truly a horror film with a capital H, unlike anything I have seen. Consequently this film has stuck with me like few others. Glazer’s choices are bold and uncompromising. I believe he is one of our most important working directors, and the closest we have to carrying Kubrick’s legacy forward.
One of the saddest things about the film is that when Jonathan Glazer, a Jew, spoke at the Oscars and called for peace he was roundly criticised. Those who did so clearly hadn't absorbed the true underlying message in the film.
Another unfortunately harrowing film is 'The Grey Zone'. There is again an undercurrent of sound which permeates the whole film. The 'Zone of Interest' is Auschwitz I. 'The grey Zone' is Auschwitz II (Birkenau). Great actors with harvey keitel, Steve Buscemi, David Arquette. Directed by Tim Blake Nelson. PS. love your take on the mechanics of a movie.
Hoss and his family (and his mother in law) were sickened by the large amounts of ash (aka murdered and incinerated people) they’d ingested from being so close. This is why his MIL left I think, unless I’m miss remembering which is possible, not out of any sense of morality.
The end where he stares into the camera will always haunt my nightmares.
I loved this movie. Having seen so many movies about the war they tend to become formulaic. This one really hit different because of the casual banality of evil. Regular people that were doing the most atrocious things.
I listened to the closing thoughts.
I think the word being sought is "juxtaposition."
The desperate attempt at normal life juxtaposed with the sound of horror.
The focus on the banal pursuits going on in the home life, with the hint of hell going on just out of sight but not out of mind.
May the souls of the holy martyrs know everlasting peace.
one of the darkest films ever produced. when we look back at historical atrocities we always ask "how could people let this happen?" and the answer given here is that people are capable of adapting to anything, as long as their own lives feel stable and comfortable. goodness and empathy and humanity are no match for the power of a system in motion. all it takes is a job and a wall
Seeing this film, made me think that Jonathan Glazer literally made a clinical observation of human behavior. Like we are witnessing and studying the normalization of how cynical and brutal can people can be.
This film is a horror film, using horror in an usual and brilliant way: implied horror. Because you never *see* the atrocities; it all happens behind a wall. It's all implied. And only if you have the historical knowledge to know what's happening.
This film is a masterpiece and also one of the most horrifying, most difficult films I've ever seen. The sound design is sickeningly brilliant.
As to why: the director said himself, this film is about dehumanization and the atrocities it enables; this process is not just a past thing, a holocaust thing, it's happened all through human history, and IS STILL HAPPENING. So why this story? Because its timeless. Because its deeply and depressingly human.
Speaking of zones, you should watch The Dead Zone (1983) with Christopher Walken, based on a Stephen King novel.
I thought the role of the animals was brilliant in this movie. They are the only ones that react to the gunshots, which is one of many illustrations of how unnatural the situation is.
I had to skip through this movie because it was so horrific - the sounds and the absolute OBLIVIOUSNESS of the family to the horror they were living right next to (and running). It was so disturbing the way it was shot (and told) - like you said - like we're just on a tripod watching - and we are powerless to do anything about it. Finally, I took the low growl that went on through most of the movie as like "evil" or "the devil". I didn't really connect it to the burning - but you could be right that it was that. Great to see your reaction to this movie that I *just tried to watch (only about 1/4 of). 🙌🏽
The general gagging at the end - I saw this as a representation of evil coming out of him. just as it cuts to the modern update of his "work" which is now just rubble and remnants. we see him hacking and gagging. just a visceral juxtaposition
I haven’t had the guts to actually watch this. But I have seen videos on it. I think the point is the banality of evil and how this actually can happen. But people who have seen it may disagree.
I would love to see you react to Stuart little