Road to the Oscars (5/6) Please read my latest post for more information: www.youtube.com/@watchingcodyrice/community PS: I totally forgot to address the trivia in the review part, so here are some interesting things I've found on Imdb: "The sound of constant revving of an unseen motorcycle engine heard from a distance several times throughout the outdoor scenes is a fact from real life. The main character of the movie, Auschwitz commander Rudolf Höss, hired a person just to rev the engine in order to overshadow the horror of screams and gunshots coming from the camp." "Director Jonathan Glazer used up to five fixed cameras in the house and garden with no visible crew to capture many scenes so the actors didn't know if they were being shot in a close-up or wide shot. They were totally immersed in the scene and enjoyed working in that realistic environment." "Due to the unconventional multi-camera set up, Glazer and his team had over 800 hours of raw footage at the start of the editing process." "Jonathan Glazer's screenplay is only loosely based on British author Sir Martin Amis' novel "The Zone of Interest." Amis' provocative book is quite different in many ways, because it tells a fictitious 'love story' plot from three perspectives by using an artificial, even comical language designed to alienate the reader. Amis also uses only fictitious names for his characters, even if the historical Höss family was obviously an inspiration." "Mica Levi recorded a much longer score for the film, but Jonathan Glazer decided to do without music for most of the movie, and to instead rely on the sound design to depict the off-screen horrors occurring in Auschwitz."
The Crematorium shown near the end is the one located behind Höss' family wall. The plan displayed by the architects was put to work in 1943 in Auschwitz- II (Birkenau) 4 Crematoria functioned there, and some even had up to five ovens. Two where damaged during the Sonderkommando uprising on October 1944 and the rest were blown up in November when Himmler shut the operation down. When Hedwig and her friends discuss the clothing theyre looting from the victims she makes a joke about someone thinking she was borrowing that from Canada (the country): 'Kanada' was the storage section for stolen property from the victims on Birkenau. A section of new barracks called 'Mexiko' was never completed.
Someone has said that the first five minutes are to prepare you for what is about to happen, it reminds you of the sound that mixes the repetitive noise of machinery, the machinery of death created by the Nazi regime. The sound becomes ingrained in you, and even when it is no longer there, you still remember it. There are many real/actual pictures of Höss and his family in the garden and swimming pool, exactly as it's seen in the film. The family seems to have ladies working in the house, I am not sure if they are Jewish (I do not remember well but Hedwig mentioned something like "Jeovah's Witnesses" in the beginning). Men working outside the house are Jewish. Among those women, you can clearly see the high level of fear in the air. Of the many Holocaust films I have seen, there is always an extraordinary concern on the part of survivors (those who were not executed upon arrival at the camps) to appear healthy and fit to serve as forced laborers. I think that during so long of extermination and transportation of Jews to the camps, they must have started exchanging information and lipstick was a very important item. Many people used lipstick to put it on their face so that their skin had a vibrant color (especially in winter). Healthier-looking prisoners had a better chance of living. Hedwig using the lipstick found in the coat in such a trivial and disinterested way demonstrates a malignant opposition to the fact that that simple lipstick could have represented life or death for many. 6:20 This looks like the Big Brother show. Here in Brazil this awful television show is a phenomenon and the footage in the film reminds me of the show. 8:22 I once saw an interview with a Jewish lady, a survivor, who said: "Even God did not want to see what was happening in Auschwitz, it was terrifying even for Him to witness what His creatures were capable to do." 12:07 If it were up to Hedwig and all the Nazis, they would be enjoying everything to this day, even though Jews were being killed every day under the same conditions. 15:16 You mentioned here that the situations there would influence the Höss children for the rest of their lives. And I must say that you are right, since the children seem to have assimilated the same perception from their father and mother. In recent interviews they say that Höss was the best father in the world and that he committed no crime. They are all unrepentant and insensitive. When Höss is at the reception in that palace in Oranienburg, his mind is so taken by evil that he can only think about how to kill a greater number of human beings (he analyzes the palace and comes to the conclusion that the place is very airy and that the gas would dissipate very quickly, making it unfeasible to use gas in those conditions). His goal is to obtain greater status in the death machinery created by Hitler and gain more prestige. 20:44 Sorry if I mention other people's comments but it is because I have watched so many videos analyzing this film and it ended up creating this side effect in me. All the interesting things that I have heard stuck with me. You said that we don't see the victims (the Jews) in the film -- at least most of them -- since we only see a few Jewish men working in the garden. Someone said that we only see the Jews through the remains, the bones and teeth and especially the ashes, the ashes are everywhere in this film. I am not sure if you know a German-Jewish woman called Hannah Arendt. She wrote a book called "Eichmann in Jerusalem. Ein Bericht von der Banalität des Bösen". Arendt was already living in New York when the trial of this Nazi started in Israel in the 60s, after the Israeli intelligence service "Mossad" discovered the fugitive Eichmann in Argentina and captured him. Arendt was sent to Jerusalem by The New Yorker magazine to follow the trial. It was a long trial that took months. The trial was entirely in German and Arendt spoke fluent German. In her book, she says that what impressed her most was that she expected to see an intelligent and articulate man, but in reality Eichmann was a simple employee, a bureaucrat with a very poor vocabulary and little knowledge of the German language. She was impressed and curious how such a common and even stupid man managed to achieve such a high position. And to top it off, his narrative was tiring and everything he revealed was completely banal. This theory by Arendt, many say, is very similar to Höss's own trial/judgment in Nurnberg, which is why many can see similarities between the banality of evil in Einchmann and in Höss. I missed your analysis of the girl who hid apples in the mud, near the prisoners' work tools. Night images with filter. The music played on the piano that you mentioned was created by a prisoner and left by him in a box for the Polish girl who kept the apples hidden.
My understanding is the the Hoess family did not allow Jews from the concentration camp to work as domestics. Their servants (really slaves) were non-Jewish inmates, Polish, etc.
@Pamtroy I am not a German speaker but I think that Hedwig mentions that the ladies are Jeovah's Witnesses in the beginning of the film. Men who are working on the outside are maybe Jewish.
Noch ein interessanter Fakt zur Lager-Tonspur: Das Audio-Team recherchierte monatelang für die Erstellung dieser Tonspur. Sie durchforsteten dafür Auschwitz-Dokumente, die über tägliche Vorkommnisse im Lager berichteten. Sie wussten daher, wann wo geschossen wurde, Einsätze - z.T. mit Unterhaltungen - stattfanden und bauten diese Szenerien in standortgerechter Lautstärke ein. Es ist somit eine fast authentische zweite Tonspur entstanden. Sich das bewusst zu machen, macht es noch härter, das mitanzuhören.
Road to the Oscars (5/6)
Please read my latest post for more information:
www.youtube.com/@watchingcodyrice/community
PS: I totally forgot to address the trivia in the review part, so here are some interesting things I've found on Imdb:
"The sound of constant revving of an unseen motorcycle engine heard from a distance several times throughout the outdoor scenes is a fact from real life. The main character of the movie, Auschwitz commander Rudolf Höss, hired a person just to rev the engine in order to overshadow the horror of screams and gunshots coming from the camp."
"Director Jonathan Glazer used up to five fixed cameras in the house and garden with no visible crew to capture many scenes so the actors didn't know if they were being shot in a close-up or wide shot. They were totally immersed in the scene and enjoyed working in that realistic environment."
"Due to the unconventional multi-camera set up, Glazer and his team had over 800 hours of raw footage at the start of the editing process."
"Jonathan Glazer's screenplay is only loosely based on British author Sir Martin Amis' novel "The Zone of Interest." Amis' provocative book is quite different in many ways, because it tells a fictitious 'love story' plot from three perspectives by using an artificial, even comical language designed to alienate the reader. Amis also uses only fictitious names for his characters, even if the historical Höss family was obviously an inspiration."
"Mica Levi recorded a much longer score for the film, but Jonathan Glazer decided to do without music for most of the movie, and to instead rely on the sound design to depict the off-screen horrors occurring in Auschwitz."
The Crematorium shown near the end is the one located behind Höss' family wall. The plan displayed by the architects was put to work in 1943 in Auschwitz- II (Birkenau) 4 Crematoria functioned there, and some even had up to five ovens. Two where damaged during the Sonderkommando uprising on October 1944 and the rest were blown up in November when Himmler shut the operation down.
When Hedwig and her friends discuss the clothing theyre looting from the victims she makes a joke about someone thinking she was borrowing that from Canada (the country): 'Kanada' was the storage section for stolen property from the victims on Birkenau. A section of new barracks called 'Mexiko' was never completed.
Someone has said that the first five minutes are to prepare you for what is about to happen, it reminds you of the sound that mixes the repetitive noise of machinery, the machinery of death created by the Nazi regime. The sound becomes ingrained in you, and even when it is no longer there, you still remember it. There are many real/actual pictures of Höss and his family in the garden and swimming pool, exactly as it's seen in the film. The family seems to have ladies working in the house, I am not sure if they are Jewish (I do not remember well but Hedwig mentioned something like "Jeovah's Witnesses" in the beginning). Men working outside the house are Jewish. Among those women, you can clearly see the high level of fear in the air.
Of the many Holocaust films I have seen, there is always an extraordinary concern on the part of survivors (those who were not executed upon arrival at the camps) to appear healthy and fit to serve as forced laborers. I think that during so long of extermination and transportation of Jews to the camps, they must have started exchanging information and lipstick was a very important item. Many people used lipstick to put it on their face so that their skin had a vibrant color (especially in winter). Healthier-looking prisoners had a better chance of living. Hedwig using the lipstick found in the coat in such a trivial and disinterested way demonstrates a malignant opposition to the fact that that simple lipstick could have represented life or death for many.
6:20 This looks like the Big Brother show. Here in Brazil this awful television show is a phenomenon and the footage in the film reminds me of the show.
8:22 I once saw an interview with a Jewish lady, a survivor, who said: "Even God did not want to see what was happening in Auschwitz, it was terrifying even for Him to witness what His creatures were capable to do."
12:07 If it were up to Hedwig and all the Nazis, they would be enjoying everything to this day, even though Jews were being killed every day under the same conditions.
15:16 You mentioned here that the situations there would influence the Höss children for the rest of their lives. And I must say that you are right, since the children seem to have assimilated the same perception from their father and mother. In recent interviews they say that Höss was the best father in the world and that he committed no crime. They are all unrepentant and insensitive.
When Höss is at the reception in that palace in Oranienburg, his mind is so taken by evil that he can only think about how to kill a greater number of human beings (he analyzes the palace and comes to the conclusion that the place is very airy and that the gas would dissipate very quickly, making it unfeasible to use gas in those conditions). His goal is to obtain greater status in the death machinery created by Hitler and gain more prestige.
20:44 Sorry if I mention other people's comments but it is because I have watched so many videos analyzing this film and it ended up creating this side effect in me. All the interesting things that I have heard stuck with me. You said that we don't see the victims (the Jews) in the film -- at least most of them -- since we only see a few Jewish men working in the garden. Someone said that we only see the Jews through the remains, the bones and teeth and especially the ashes, the ashes are everywhere in this film.
I am not sure if you know a German-Jewish woman called Hannah Arendt. She wrote a book called "Eichmann in Jerusalem. Ein Bericht von der Banalität des Bösen". Arendt was already living in New York when the trial of this Nazi started in Israel in the 60s, after the Israeli intelligence service "Mossad" discovered the fugitive Eichmann in Argentina and captured him. Arendt was sent to Jerusalem by The New Yorker magazine to follow the trial.
It was a long trial that took months. The trial was entirely in German and Arendt spoke fluent German. In her book, she says that what impressed her most was that she expected to see an intelligent and articulate man, but in reality Eichmann was a simple employee, a bureaucrat with a very poor vocabulary and little knowledge of the German language. She was impressed and curious how such a common and even stupid man managed to achieve such a high position. And to top it off, his narrative was tiring and everything he revealed was completely banal. This theory by Arendt, many say, is very similar to Höss's own trial/judgment in Nurnberg, which is why many can see similarities between the banality of evil in Einchmann and in Höss.
I missed your analysis of the girl who hid apples in the mud, near the prisoners' work tools. Night images with filter. The music played on the piano that you mentioned was created by a prisoner and left by him in a box for the Polish girl who kept the apples hidden.
That music at the end is oscar worthy
Glazer's one of my favourite current/modern directors, you should definitely check out Under The Skin if you haven't already seen it :)
I will! 🫵
My understanding is the the Hoess family did not allow Jews from the concentration camp to work as domestics. Their servants (really slaves) were non-Jewish inmates, Polish, etc.
@Pamtroy I am not a German speaker but I think that Hedwig mentions that the ladies are Jeovah's Witnesses in the beginning of the film. Men who are working on the outside are maybe Jewish.
Noch ein interessanter Fakt zur Lager-Tonspur:
Das Audio-Team recherchierte monatelang für die Erstellung dieser Tonspur. Sie durchforsteten dafür Auschwitz-Dokumente, die über tägliche Vorkommnisse im Lager berichteten. Sie wussten daher, wann wo geschossen wurde, Einsätze - z.T. mit Unterhaltungen - stattfanden und bauten diese Szenerien in standortgerechter Lautstärke ein. Es ist somit eine fast authentische zweite Tonspur entstanden. Sich das bewusst zu machen, macht es noch härter, das mitanzuhören.
Good reaction. Just guessing by your accent - are you German yourself?
Damn, my cover is blown! Yes, I am. ☺️