The cinematic adaptation of a Martin Amis novel juxtaposes mundane everyday life with the horror of Auschwitz using thermal vision and audio, among other narrative devices, reports Adrian Pennington.
The bureaucratic designation “zone of interest” [interessengebiet in German] was used by the Nazi SS to describe the 40 km2 area immediately surrounding the Auschwitz concentration camp on the outskirts of Oświęcim, Poland. Used by the late Martin Amis for the title of his 2014 novel and retained by writer-director Jonathan Glazer (Sexy Beast) for his long-gestating cinematic adaptation, The Zone of Interest maps the geographical and psychic terrain of the Auschwitz administrators home and work lives with chilling precision.
“We wanted the camera to be like an eye,” explained Lucas Żal, the two time Polish Academy Award nominee (for Ida and Cold War) who shot Glazer’s film.
In the novel, Amis had based the villainous character of Paul Doll — a camp commandant stationed at a fictional version of Auschwitz — on Rudolf Höss, the long-serving Nazi officer widely acknowledged as one of the architects of mass extermination. (He was even credited with pioneering the use of Zyklon B gas.)
Staggeringly, the Höss family home shared its garden wall with the death camp. It was this fact that...
You are not signed in.
Only registered users can view this article.
Behind the Scenes: Disclaimer
For all the slippery perspectives in psychological thriller Disclaimer, the truth is lying in plain sight, explains Editor Adam Gough.
Behind the Scenes: Conclave
Mystery, suspense and a game of thrones in the Vatican lensed by cinematographer Stéphane Fontaine.
, Director Jon M. Chu, and Ariana Grande (as Glinda) on the set of Wicked.jpg)
Behind the Scenes: Wicked
Opposing colours in the same frame, 6000 lightning cues and shooting 17 sound stages - one the size of four American football fields, all merit why Wicked is the ‘latest hurrah to the golden days of epic studio filmmaking,’ writes Adrian Pennington.
Behind the Scenes: Blitz
The director of 12 Years A Slave and Small Axe has created a historical aesthetic of a tragic and turbulent London, depicting lives subjected to a permanent black out, in Blitz, Steve McQueen’s new film based on authentic anecdotes and inspired by filmmaker archives of the era.
Behind the Scenes: How sound and vision get under the skin in Nickel Boys
Re-recording Mixer Tony Volante and Cinematographer Jomo Fray explain how they told a drama from the perspective of its lead characters.
