Movie Recommendation: The Zone of Interest directed by Jonathan Glazer

A long classical music introduction, animating a completely dark image that lasts few long minutes. Then, we are introduced into the everyday routine of a middle-class German family. Children are trying to trick the adults, the stay-at-home mom is managing the whole household with a strong fist, while the father is spending long hours at work. His work is near his home, so he can come for lunch or invite some of his colleagues.

The family father´s name is Rudolf Höss and his workplace is Auschwitz. 

The multi-awarded movie by Jonathan Glazer, The Zone of Interest that I´ve watched on Amazon Prime, is adapted from a novel by Martin Amis. I haven´t read the book but the topic of moral indifference and acceptance of everyday evil is more actual than ever. My favorite ever film on this topic remains though Mohamad Rasoulof´s There is No Evil featuring four separate stories of normal people in Iran involved at different extents with sending people to death. The Zone of Interest has a narrower focus, but with a similar question: how can we co-exist with evil in such a non-empathic way?

The family discussions do follow the usual pattern in a household. Her husband may be exhausted about his days at work. Unexpected changes are in sight. The challenges coming with the responsibility.

All we need to make complex judgments in this case is the knowledge about why there is smoke coming out of Auschwitz. To understand why Helvig, Höss´ wife, receives various belongings that obviously she didn´t buy herself. Or who are the emaciated humans coming from time to time to visit the Höss residence. 

But there is also a certain degree of indifference, moral human weakness of a different degree. Towards the end of the movie, people working in the Auschwitz memorial are doing their job, with no special contempt for the place where horrible things happened. 

Is this normal? Are we, generally as humans unable to moral empathy and relevance, unless someone close to us is directly affected? Hence, the role of the stories, connecting us, as representative of the humanity. 

There is a dark side to this movie, but personally I can imagine a way to counter it: by not giving up telling emotional stories, explaining contexts and not giving up in educating.

This movie is a good topic of discussion for the history of mentalities, but also for any discussion of artistic representations - especially through movies - of the WWII in the everyday life German social context.