Area of interest was the most radical film ever seen in the competition of the last edition of the Cannes Festivalwith the Holocaust shown in a different way.
It may take a while to discover the coiled barbed wire at the top of that remote garden wall. Also, the smoke from chimneys is not as clear.
The family of Nazi commander Rudolf Höss lives in a mansion next to Auschwitz, and you can see the smoke from the chimney where the murdered bodies are incinerated, or from the locomotives of the trains that bring the deportees to that complex in Poland. occupied, the largest extermination center of the Third Reich.
The movie, which aspires to 5 Oscar awardsincluding best film and direction, is the work of director Jonathan Glazer, the Englishman who 23 years ago surprised with The wild beastand that now talks about other humans with animal behavior.
Already during the opening credits everything is disturbing. There is music and strange sounds and it is difficult to define what is seen on the screen. Then yes, the commander of Auschwitz, Rudolf Höss, and his wife live with their children in a kind of small mansion… next to the concentration camp.
Glazer tells with astonishing simplicity the life of that marriage and the upbringing of their five children, who while they are in the garden see different types of smoke.
The children play, and hear desperate calls for help, screams of officers ordering executions. The film, by focusing on marriage, also talks about selfishness, irresponsibility and a cold attitude towards death.
Sandra Hüller is the wife of the family. The German actress is an Oscar candidate, but for “Antomy of a Fall.”But Area of interest -Glazer very freely adopted the book of his compatriot Martin Amis, who died at the premiere of the film in Cannes-never shows any form of explicit violence.
Glazer will never put his camera above the concrete wall that separates the family from the extermination camp.
Moment of tension
The only moment of tension comes when Hedwig, the commander’s wife, scolds a maid for a puddle of water on the floor.
The garden, the pool and, behind the wall, Auschwitz.The Holocaust is a difficult issue to address, and it has been done in the most diverse ways, from Life is Beautifulby and with Roberto Benigni, to The boy in the striped pajamaswhich in a certain way “denied” some of the protagonists the horror that surrounded them in the concentration camps.
Could it be a nod to the girl in the red coat Schindler’s List the scene in which a child is seen with thermal images, who steals food and leaves it to the Jews?
Here it is not disavowed, and the evil that is perceived has no room for misunderstandings or doubts. Rudolf and Hedwig turned that house into an idyllic home. Christian Friedel and Sandra Hüller (Oscar candidate, but for Anatomy of a fall) seem like a perfect marriage. Elucidating what happens behind closed doors is the question.
United Kingdom / United States / Poland, 2023. Original title: “The Zone of Interest”. 104’, SAM 13. Of: Jonathan Glazer. Con: Christian Friedel, Sandra Hülser, Johann Karthaus, Max Beck. Salas: Hoyts Abasto and Unicenter, Cinemark Palermo, Cinépolis Recoleta, Showcase Belgrano, Norcenter and Haedo.