How a Domestic Scene Creates Dread in ‘The Zone of Interest’ | Anatomy of a Scene

This sequence from “The Zone of Interest,” which is nominated for five Academy Awards, including best picture, observes a weekday at the home of Rudolf Höss, the commandant of the concentration camp Auschwitz. That home is positioned directly next door to the camp. In the kitchen, Rudolf’s wife, Hedwig, sits and gossips with friends. In another room, Rudolf meets with the engineers of a crematory. But the scene primarily follows Aniela, a young Polish girl who works in the home, preparing a glass of schnapps to celebrate the commandant’s birthday, and delivering boots to him during his meeting.
Discussing the scene, the film’s director, Jonathan Glazer, said that he chose to follow Aniela, rather than the main characters, “because it’s really one of the only times in the film where we can see and connect and spend time with, essentially, a victim of these atrocities.”
He explained that he chose to use multiple cameras to shoot the scene, and the film overall, because “I really didn’t want to have sort of the artificial construction of a conventional film to tell this story. Rather, to view them anthropologically, as if we were a fly on the wall.”
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[@BugVlogs]

One of my favorite films of the decade so far. Very impressive how showing absolutely nothing of the horrors happening in the camp is somehow even more terrifying.

[@ginofactap]

this is not new, 'less' has always been 'more' in filmmaking. you should watch some of antonioni's, bergman's or even angelopoulos's work if you dig this type of narrative.

[@user-mi5xq8zj7u]

My grandmother (were from eastern Ukraine) was a servant girl in a German household during the occupation. She lived until 86 and spoke very little of her experience as it was dangerous to do so during the Soviet times. I only know that they were kind to her and that their two sons did not come back from the eastern front. I’m only glad she didn’t live to see the invasion and occupation, this time from the other direction…

[@mjw12345]

'nothing of the horrors happening in the camp is somehow even more terrifying' - true, very true. But I'm a bit conflicted - the Death Camps are a fading memory or were never a memory. Witness Israeli Cabinet ministers talking about Palestinians as 'human animals', doing ethnic cleansing, hinting as elimination in some fashion (Israel has been discussing moving Palestinians to Africa). Hitler had earlier plans to not annihilate Jews but to deport them.

[@힐만94]

@@mjw12345 well a bully comes from victim of a bully, so they look for lesser/minor to be bullied, and then they can feel better about themselves...

[@slimelove3493]

This movie is not gory? That’s the only reason I have refrained from watching it, I can’t do the blood and gore

[@Scottyh1989]

The lack of empathy is what shocked me the most. Amazing film

[@lujainalimanable]

It is shocking that it is happening again today, and seeing it in real time and not onlyndo people have no empathy, they cheer it on.

[@weaver4108]

@@lujainalimanable I have German neighbour we are living in France and she is nasty ignorant person. She tries controlling me , spaying on me (she fixed camera pointed at my direction) she is older generation. She has staff , cleaning lady and helper who is also German and both of them trying to ruin my live!

[@RobertSlover]

the true horror is that within us all resides the heart of darkness.

[@deepwaters9300]

Like the vaccine passport people and those who lost their jobs

[@deepwaters9300]

No, only many of you who obeyed the covid stuff, about 25 percent of us saw the atrocities. There are people who do stand back and watch you normies obey without a conscience

[@stace_d]

This film is so nuanced and incredible. I'd love to watch it again, with Glazer's commentary throughout, explaining all the filming details

[@Torlet]

We can wait for a Criterion release

[@adambrocklehurst4211]

It is a spectacular film, but I don't think I could watch it again, I struggled watching it the first time.

[@NFord-ty6wx]

Available free on Amazon Prime.

[@tz64nk41]

This is an exceptionally well made film and the Oscar was well deserved.

[@sugarpuffsanctuary5797]

I nursed one of the crematorium workers at the end of his life in Sydney 1992. He was rescued by the British and they told him they could send him anywhere in their colonies so he said send me as far away from Europe as possible and they sent him to Australia. He wrote his memories down for his family and anyone else to read if interested , it was horrific. The thing I remember most was when he opened the gas chamber doors and saw bleeding bodies piled in a pyramid shape as they clambered on top of each other scratching and tearing each other to get the last piece of air at the top of the room , children clinging to their mothers legs under skirts. I don’t think I could share the other things I read.

[@NicolaWillis-jy5nx]

Hello. I'm so sorry for the horrors you have heard and read, and I want to tell you that I care and I want to be with you as a human in witnessing the horror. It's so awful. I don't feel like I'm finding the right words at all, and I feel really awkward writing this comment, but I didn't want to leave your comment unanswered. Sending so much love to you.

[@valsainking]

Omg that sounds absolutely horrific! May God have mercy on our souls for the horrors we have collectively forced upon the innocent. The human race has so much to atone for. Oh God, we beg your forgiveness.

[@selenaclarke]

its the greatest honour to be with a person at the end of life. God bless you

[@animula6908]

We’ve all read it various places before. Never becomes pleasant, but it’s hard to remember people once found it shocking as well. Sad world we live in.

[@melodybaoin1425]

When I was eight years old, I stumbled on one of my mother's book in our home library. Given that they work in the UNHCR ( United Nations Refugee Agency), it's a compilation of stories about refugees circa 1950's to early 1990's. I remember it to be a huge books with several pictures ofhouses burned by war, starving children, or families with the look of lost on their faces. What horrified me the most are the stories. I recalled reading the stories of Vietnamese people riding on crowded fishing boats riding through the sea for days and clueless on when they will reach land. During these trips, there was not enough food for the passengers on these boats. In there desperation, they sought to cannibalism. I remember that one dying passengers on the boat ( a middle age man) volunteered himself to be eaten. The witness ( the one telling the story) will then tell in excruciating detail on how the man was feasted upon by the time he took his last breath. When I came upon the part of a four year old child dying and the men plan to eat her as well....I just closed the book shut. No more. Said my eight year old self. No more. I don't know where that book is now but the content on what is written there had shook me more than any horror story. War can really show you the most bleakest side of humanity. The story was just words in a book, it must be unimaginable to be a part of it. God bless the souls who had experience it first hand. May they be at peace.

[@norazaizar5804]

The chilling sounds heard as a background to a young boy playing with his toys in his bedroom. Unbelievable film.

[@samrock8047]

The moment the screen got red and the sound got louder was an incredible experience and nearly knocked me out

[@albertosaldana7456]

That was so eerie, i was like what is going on🤣

[@samrock8047]

@@albertosaldana7456 yes

[@krystingrant6292]

That shi was weird

[@JuaniPodrido]

I had to buy a pair of quality headphones to take in the ambience of the film. This is one of a kind of a remembrance without showing what's happening behind the walls, the final scene of cleaning the rooms really hits the nail in the coffin of delivering the message.

[@ChooseCompassion]

As a cinephile I am especially appreciative of him taking the time to break down the scene.

[@mkader2494]

This is the best film I've seen in years. The Director is a man of principle.

[@madelineastor8373]

Creep.

[@Sedge1962]

It is one of the best and at the same time most touching films I have seen so far. a work of art far away from any commercialism

[@howiespancakeshack]

One of the best films I have ever seen. Glazer is the real deal. So happy to see him getting recognised.

[@JeseeWalker]

Glazer is very famous in the filmmaking world.

[@howiespancakeshack]

?

[@SzybkieRecki]

Brilliant. I didn't notice it the first time, honestly. I think it's one of the films where you notice more of such things during the secong viewing.

[@marvinomarmenjivaralvarez2086]

Just watched the film yesterday as it won the Oscar for best international film, no doubt of the why! Amazing film and this commentary just makes me want to watch it again

[@sorayaassar1602]

I didn’t realize how much of the film actually was real and based on actual people and situations.

[@meiji_apollo]

It truly felt like they were discussing a sale of home furniture in that meeting

[@pameslicker6775]

I was also fascinated by these characters and the scenes. I watched especially the Polish woman; I assumed she was a prisoner of the camp but you can tell she knows everything she does has to be perfect. The Gardner washing the blood off the boots was horrifying. The calm, general talk about the efficiency of the, I assumed they were furnaces, was chilling. The more I think about this movie, the more impressed I am.

[@MultiSUPERLATIVO]

The women who worked in the house were not Jewish (as Mr. Glazer explains in the video), it is clear that the men working outside were. As a researcher focusing on works of art stolen from Jews, I found Hedwig Höss's mother's dialogue interesting, when she said that she cleaned the house of a Jewish family and that she had a passion for her boss's curtains. She revealed that she was unable to buy the curtains because someone bid better than hers at the auction. Dutch museologist Peter van Mensch has long been denouncing the fact that German families are selling Jewish objects on the black market, to antique dealers and private collectors. The Nazis who were in possession of this war spoils are dying and their families are trying to get rid of these collections.

[@pepperpattynaise]

Thank you for sharing this, its an important thing to know and share.

[@RobRyan-c3v]

He specifically mentions she is not Jewish but Polish.

[@shikawgoh]

I was glued to the screen at the movie theater when I saw this film. And the more that I learn and know about the filmmaking decisions behind it, the more I want to view it again. It definitely lived up to my own high expectations.

[@Cindyalibaster]

the sounds gave me chills

[@anthonyjaswinski5732]

A brilliant, eerie, haunting and quiet film. Reminds me of Van Sant's Last Days.

[@witchesland]

When the lady came to know about Rudolf's transfer ,she became angry about thhe situation which ended up her souting at the househelp.This is most relatable, we often do this.

[@whatsgood22022]

Incredible film. I haven't stopped thinking about it since i've watched it.

[@emusical1]

Amazing, terrifying film. I'm Jewish and so glad I saw this.

[@nik1128]

The part with the grandmother unable to sleep because of the sounds of the crematorium is probably the most disturbing scene in this entire movie, imo. Truly evil.

[@adambrocklehurst4211]

One of the most effective and horrifying films ever made.

[@ManCave1972]

It’s a remarkable film, and one that you should see in a cinema.

[@ForTheLoveofFood758]

This movie deserves all the awards and praise!

[@gamerdad1980]

Thanks for this clip. I was googling about this chamber/cremation design, and through this clip, I found out that the design wasn't built.

[@Katestravels]

Excellent movie. Very well done. Yet disturbing.

[@fabiesque]

What a magnificent movie! It grows within you. One needs to listen to reviews as yours to enrich the experience. I sooo like that you aknowledge the presence and the bravura of the young servant girl. Unbelievably meaningful her scenes. Notice when she carries the tablet with the schnapps glass and goes through the kitchen the woman sitting in the way doesn't even move a little further to facilitate the girl passing by. Disgusting.

[@cindyinnew]

I picked up on that as well. I wondered what would have happened had the pathway been too narrow for the girl to pass through. What would she have done ?

[@gpeddino]

Such a harrowing, upsetting movie.

[@kate25382]

Israeli people now, living next to Palestinians and ignoring the horror the Palestine is going through. Irony of how the oppressed became the oppressors.

[@NBportofino]

This was an excellent movie. Dark but so well done.

[@Sp84245]

Very well done and has a uniqueness in presentation

[@mryoutubeperson7326]

The only thing I could think of while watching this masterpiece was in Palestine, the parallels are horrifying and shows that we, as a humanity, will always repeat history, no matter how barbaric it may be

[@rezaantoszewska612]

Yes it is an even greater horror to see what is occurring right now- in Palestine, at the hands of those who are victim in this film- it does not need to keep repeating.

[@Kristine_202]

My maternal great grandparents lived in a town that is within walking distance of the camp. They moved to America before the war. I knew they were from Poland, but I had no idea they were SO close to Auschwitz. I often wonder what their life would have been like if they'd stayed. My paternal great grandparents were Jews from Ukraine. They also left before the war. I found out recently that they actually lived in Chernobyl. All of that was news to me because their papers just say that they're from Russia, and my grandfather died before I was born, so I was never able to ask him about his family. Needless to say, everybody left at the right time! I've always been very interested in anything that has to do with Auschwitz.

[@endgamefond]

The only movie that I rated so high but I dont wanna rewatch it.

[@axnyslie]

I had to watch it twice because there's so many subtle details to take in that's missed in the first viewing, especially the sounds.

[@DearProfessorRF]

They just won the Oscar tonight ❤ I can’t wait to see it!

[@userbosco]

I haven't seen this yet, but I feel it will be one of these experiences I'll need to steel myself before watching.

[@mrspeel7]

Yes. I saw it in the theater last Saturday - and about four hours ahead of time, I was thinking: Brace yourself. No worries, there are no visually horrifying scenes, nothing like that. But if you have not yet seen it, it might be something you think about after watching. At least - that's what I'm experiencing right now.

[@phoenixswanson1561]

Realism isn't the shell of a film. Life can be grating but when using the medium of cinema, you have to bend to its limitations.

[@nightbender9250]

We’re so used to seeing the horrors and atrocities in WW2 movies about the holocaust that it’s just as scary to not actually see it happen but to know it’s happening by our other senses.

[@Lizziesouth]

It's very eerie that we can feel it, see it and just carry on with normal life, working legal jobs, believing what we are conditioned to know, in a weird Foucaltian way. It makes you think about how much evil happens on daily around the world. It is frightening to know the reality of human nature

[@raaz202]

The mundane routine at the Hoss house gives the mixed feeling of fragrance and stink. Its unsettling and disturbing. Loved this movie. Like to know how he reached to the idea ?

[@n3n3b3n3]

he stated in his oscar speech that he wants us to reflect on the world today and how zionists now continue to carry out the same german methods of occupation and crimes against humanity onto the people of gaza

[@joolenka]

I haven’t seen the film yet but I can tell from this scene that it’s absolutely brilliant

[@halitosis75]

This movie is brilliant. Please do another movie . Great work

[@mjw12345]

Thanks. Special bravery Jonathan Glazer. I'm really conflicted about this film - having seen a good many movies about the Death Camps, I find this approach exceedingly daring. I've read in Germany that it doesn't quite impact as it should because it's shown without captions/subtitles. Conflicted - portraying one of the most immense crimes in human history as a family drama! Resonates with me - but something is missing and appreciation requires knowledge about the Death Camps. I've watched it twice now, will maybe watch a third time.

[@Lic51]

Watch this film in the cinema. Is a real masterpiece. I had this feeling😮 in my stomach, like I wanted to vomit. Also I couldn't stop thinking about Gaza, Israelis living in Tel Aviv 70 km from Gaza City, chilling while Gaza burns.

[@abreknoxcho]

The difference is that 80% of Gazans surveyed by aid workers supported the terrorist attack against Israelis on October 7th. You can’t compare the holocaust to a military campaign against a terror group.

[@DaCarnival]

@@abreknoxcho Oh, and what percentage of Israelis support nearly indiscriminate bombing of civilian targets full of children? If 2 million poor and powerless people are a "terror group" there is something broken with your definition.

[@ShellyJen]

Very amazing film. Very done well. It seemed so real. Very interesting.

[@anju04aa]

Masterpiece…

[@Homeoftheclan]

Horrifying and wonderful film watched last night, such a tense watch.

[@Czeckie]

Highly upsetting movie, a masterpiece of film making and sound design. 🇵🇸

[@mitzipepall3075]

I wish Martin had lived to see the film. His book is unforgettable.

[@aprilmaaarsters]

What’s the book?

[@amlaanbhattacharjee8001]

The Book is "The Zone Of Interest" that the film has adapted, written by Martin Amis, who passed away last year

[@floolo1]

i think it was an exzellent choice to make everything look new and not vintage.

[@robd7934]

Great movie. Kind of disturbing but very well done!

[@ChooseCompassion]

No film light at all? That’s extraordinary!

[@GaryRayBetz]

An absolutely brilliant film! The banality of evil.

[@emiliobello2538]

First time the United Kingdom is nominated for Best International Feature Film in a long time since Solomon And Gaenor. Hope United Kingdom can do this more. If this movie wins every Academy Award than with United Kingdom would be the country with the most nominations out of Hollywood and Italy

[@alexah8521]

This film is a brutal, incredible masterpiece

[@r.s.9861]

This movie is a masterpiece. He is in the same league as Son of Saul.

[@shaik-cd7lu]

Not even close.

[@PRIMEVALFILMS]

Brilliant filmmaking!

[@dstaceywassup7778]

Just watched this movie on prime...not realizing it was supposed to have subtitles (I just assumed prime would know if it was supposed to have them or not) and I still felt like I knew exactly what was going on. Just made me listen the gunshots and screams even more.

[@manuelbello5806]

Two German language movies are competing. The Teachers Lounge and The Zone Of Interest. This would win for sure

[@amirleo2051]

Yes but only one of them is a German production

[@manuelbello5806]

@@amirleo2051I know

[@dolcepeter]

Pure brilliance

[@mirfir]

Wow.. 😢😢😢 Thk you!

[@itabrennan7420]

The bucolic life and the screams and gunfire a fence over did it for me.

[@PhilBeckman-rn6sx]

I highly recommend this film and Under the skin.

[@anrede8495]

This movie is a master piece.

[@RobertSlover]

the true horror is that within us all resides the heart of darkness.

[@okamifang4059]

This movie captured horror in a unique way 😢

[@messagebox9781]

Nice initiative Mr.

[@HelenA-fd8vl]

My father was a Polish slave worker. He was thrown out of college when the Germans invaded and forced to work on a local farm for a German family. Eventually he was conscripted into the German army, against his will, of course. He deserted in Italy and found his way to the British forces. I wish I had asked him more about his experiences but I think he didn’t want to burden a young person with all that he had seen. One thing he did say was that when the German soldiers were told they were being sent to Russia, they started crying. They wouldn’t send Poles, because they thought they were unreliable.

[@kittyfleas]

Extraordinary film. Shocking.

[@christine6059]

Warehouses that held property stolen from prisoners in the camps were called “Kanada,” i.e. the land of plenty.

[@NBportofino]

😮😮😮😮😮😮

[@trumanbentley9491]

And now the world is such a better place

[@willbaker8505]

LOL

[@benapfel8792]

That's just one detail, but: The Höss house in the film is built exactly the way the Nazis built their military buildings. You rarely see them these days on converted sites, e.g. old munitions factories. Seeing a house like that built brand new hits different. A brilliant detail in the movie, I still have to see it.

[@princesssiobhanfiona]

Looks like a well made film.

[@michael007ish]

Masterful

[@naderaymantalhouk6489]

Yet in the comments, no one mentioned the heartbreaking scene with hoss with his children in the river, while hoss was fishing he picked something that hit him, it was a bone, he directly called for his children and mounted them on the boat and left. Since ashes were thrown in the river, when they arrived home they washed quickly, and the cam took the shot of the tub with all that came out of the children, and then when the maid was cleaning the tub after the shower, she was staring at it, hesitated. Thats the biggest scene in the movie. And during hoss's trial the accusation was that he was responsible of the mass killing of around 3.5 million people, many waited for his objection and denial but his response was no 2.5, and many of them died bcz of starvation. How cruel a human being can be?!!!

[@ManGoatHamburger]

It’s in you, it’s in me.

[@carouselcakes6237]

65% of human beings are capable of the most inhumane acts of cruelty. Watch a film called experimenter or read a book called ‘obedience to authority. The film is about Stanley Milgram & the experiments he conducted on the subject. The book is written by Stanley Milgram about those experiments. Terrifying!

[@tvsrn44]

If you see the river scene closely as well you can see the river slowly becoming clouded and losing it’s clear color. This is because the ashes from the higher rivers are now flowing down. It’s truly horrific

[@carouselcakes6237]

The ability to be this cruel is in 70% of human beings (Stanley Milgram, the Milgram experiment & his book ‘Obedience to Authority.’ Terrifying!

[@slimelove3493]

God the lighting in so unsettling

[@GeorgeKenmore]

That is an astounding scene -- so chilling that they do not even notice her as she goes about her duties. I did like how Helga looks in from the other room to oversee her while she is pouring the drink. Another noticeable thing is that Huller, the star, sits with her back to the camera and not, as might be expected, facing the camera. Notice how the servant girl swivels her hips ever so slightly to avoid bumping into the woman's chair. And "Canada" as a source of amusement to the three women. Horrifying.

[@Directorkey718]

Just this clip was horrifying as my mind filled in what is going on in the camps at the very moment this domestic banality is happening.

[@astraluna6is9]

Sometimes, I so despise my affiliation with humanity. This film has done its work on me well. Makes me wonder why we deserve to be, when animals deserve to walk this earth more than we .

[@andif8]

Some scenes in Dancer in the Dark, where also shoot this way with simultaneous shooting in different places.

[@vonessaruffin9638]

The juxtaposition of what is happening on both sides of the wall is so viscerally disturbing that it made my blood boil. There's a ho-hum neighborly ladies chat going on while human beings are being tortured and murdered over the fence. Businessmen are basically giving a Power Point presentation to potential clients about the newest model of crematory, while ashes are reigning down outside. Glazer gives us glaring glimpses where there is nothing to question, while we can only hear and use our mind's eye to "see" what is happening on the other side. This director's explanation is fascinating and the film is seriously one of the most vital movies that I've seen.

[@j.j.blokdijk8727]

Heel bijzondere film zowel qua inhoud als vorm

[@misterhot9163]

I need to see this film asap

[@MrAgbxl]

Just saw this. Spellbinding movie

[@thunderousapplause]

I am in awe of everything about this film, from the new POV, and a different kind of holocaust film to all 10 cameras used simultaneously, oh my! to the black-and-white starkness, to the benign nature of humanity's atrocities through riveting characters and story.

[@HerrK90]

Going to watch it in cinema tomorrow. Don't know if I should be excited or scared ...

[@nathanjoseph8270]

The motorbike that’s heard in the background was a real life thing that took place. The real Ruldolf Hoss hired somebody to ride the bike around to mask the noises of the concentration camp.

[@garrybasnett5764]

Hi. I wanted to see this film and was preparing to go to the cinema when I found out that it was subtitled. I did not go, such a pity. I am dyslexic and the subtitles do not stay on the screen long enough for me to finish reading also they are usually white and become invisible when they are overlaid on a white background which often happens I want to look at the photography and not spend my time reading. If the film is remade in English please let me know. best wishes. GarryUK

[@moniqueduval6441]

Subtly horrific. I am still thinking about it.

[@corneliuswonder]

'The pieces' - the way he described them. Like air conditioning units. Geez....

[@manuandrade2484]

How ironic that Hanna Arendt's theory on the banalisation of evil would be so thoroughly applied by the descendants of those who suffered so much because of it.

[@gratefuldead3750]

Hannah Arendt

[@mutabazimichael8404]

Captivating movie

[@richardb7093]

A monumental horror movie of the domestic life of a concentration camp commander. On display is the absences of humanity which is now displayed in Gaza.

[@FlavioMarceloSousa35]

Terrifying film, a unique movie experience.

[@DurianKing]

It's like watching the idyllic life of Israeli illegal settlers, with the daily unseen horrors in Gaza and the West Bank. After the Oscars last night, I think the director agrees with me.

[@Suite_annamite]

If anyone here knows enough German, what was the word that the characters used for "pieces instead of human beings"? And what is the context of that word in its truest form in German usage? Like chess pieces? Or rather like art or items of furniture?

[@BogdanHonciuc]

More like “items”.