Jonathan Glazer’s The Zone of Interest is one of the ten Best Picture nominees at the Oscars, as well as one of the films nominated for Best International Feature. Even the Producer’s Guild of America, which typically favors more mainstream blockbusters rather than arthouse films — nevermind international ones — included the disturbing Holocaust film in its nominations.

The film adopts an immersive fly-on-the-wall view of the family of Auschwitz’s manager or commandant, who live just on the other side of a wall, next to the concentration camp. We never see what’s happening on the other side of the wall, but we can hear more than enough through the chilling sound design.

The film is still playing in theaters, but is also available to buy digitally at home.

In this episode of The Long Take Review, Greg, P.T., and discuss why others should try to see this movie despite its upsetting subject matter. We then perform a close reading of the film, with special attention to the bold formal choices. What does Glazer have to say about the rise of fascism, domesticity’s role in it, and about how we can relate to this painful past? (And we never once use the phrase “banality of evil” like everyone else did.)

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Movie News Update EE BAFTA reactions. Who were the big winners? To what extent are the British gonna British? 2:50

The Short Take We each share our general impressions of The Zone of Interest. What did we brace ourselves for and how did the film ultimately surprise us? 28:10

The Recommendation Algorithm Can we recommend this film to anyone when it’s so hard to watch? How do we talk about it without making it sound like vegetables or homework? 37:31

SPOILER MODE What explanations can we come up with for several haunting yet ambiguous scenes? What scenes or moments stick with us long after we’ve seen the film? 49:18

The Rhetorical Situation History, palimpsests, and the means of production. 1:27:20

Oscars Watch What realistically can The Zone of Interest win, especially outside of International Feature? Can it create an upsets? 1:49:22

Notes:

In case you are wondering, Jen’s intro for P.T. references BAFTA’s “rising star” award and her intro for Greg references a bit Hugh Grant did when he presented the Best Director category:

Oompa Loompa doompety dee, now the best director category…

Oompa Loompa doompety dong, most of these films were, frankly, too long…

Ooompa Loompa doompety da, but for some reason the nominees are...

Greg’s response references the opening skit for the BAFTAs ceremony, im which David Tennant has to find a dog sitter for “Bark Ruffalo.” Tennant jokes that Bark Ruffalo, a tiny white dog, is actually being played by Andy Serkis.

Image Credit: LA Times

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