THE ZONE OF INTEREST (2023)

December 15, 2023

Greetings again from the darkness. I’ve always had an issue with movies that portray the human or “normal” side of Nazis. Of course, we understand these were human beings – many caught in a no-win situation of self-preservation; however, we just find it so difficult to accept that decent people could carry out these orders of atrocities. Writer-director Jonathan Glazer (UNDER THE SKIN, 2013, SEXY BEAST, 2000, and numerous music videos) has loosely adapted the screenplay from the 2014 novel by Martin Amis, who passed away the same day the movie premiered at Cannes.

Glazer opens the film with a totally black screen. It lasts 2-3 minutes, and feels longer. He purposefully sets us up to fine tune our listening skills for his film that is every bit as much about sound as it is visuals. As the picture comes into focus, we find a family enjoying a day of sun and swimming at a river. When the dad stumbles on something, he immediately gathers up the kids and everyone heads home to bathe.

The man is Rudolph Hoss (played by Christian Friedel), the commandant of Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland during WWII. He and his wife, Hedwig “Heddy” Hoss (Sandra Huller, who also stars in ANATOMY OF A FALL, another outstanding film this year) are raising their kids in a beautiful home with a backyard that borders the wall of Auschwitz. While their servants clean and cook, Hedwig tends to her lush garden while the kids play in and out of the house. Once I realized this family was living an ordinary life in this extraordinary setting, a knot formed in my stomach … a knot that took a couple of days to subside, and has returned as I write this review.

Background sounds include periodic screams of terror and pain, as well as distant gun shots blending with the sounds of kids chirping and women chatting. When cinematographer Lukasz Zal (IDA, 2014) shoots a certain angle, we see the smokestacks rising above the wall, though we don’t venture inside the camp gates, even for Rudolph’s birthday when the other Nazi soldiers pay their respects to him. Hedwig is seen picking through items seized from those slaughtered mere feet from her front door. She takes pride in her nickname, “the Queen of Auschwitz”, even as she readily nabs a luxury coat.

Plot and drama are not big players here. We briefly see Rudolph in meetings with Nazi officials as they brainstorm on methods of improving efficiencies of mass extermination. The closest thing to family drama occurs when Rudolph is promoted to Berlin, and Hedwig refuses to go, claiming “This is our home.” It’s an incredible statement highlighting the mental block (or acceptance?) she has of the proximity to horrific actions, and the fact that evil and cruelty is the family business.

The sound design from Johnnie Burn (NOPE, 2021) and score from Mica Levi (JACKIE, 2016) play vital roles in setting and maintaining the atmosphere in a movie that rarely shifts tone and is never in a rush. By offering a different perspective, director Glazer provides a haunting film that will stick with you. He ends things with a glimpse inside the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum where we see piles of shoes, suitcases, etc. The whole film is chilling, and painfully contemporary despite its WWII setting.

Opens in theaters on December 15, 2023

WATCH THE TRAILER

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Posted by David Ferguson

JACKIE (2016)

December 10, 2016

jackie Greetings again from the darkness. There will be two distinct groups that erroneously presume this is a traditional biopic of the glamorous former first lady: those who wave it off as Lifetime Channel fare, and those who excitedly walk in thinking they are going to be swept away in the pink Chanel suit from that fateful day in November 1963. Instead, the first English language feature from director Pablo Larrain (No, 2012) offers up a what-might-have-been look behind the scenes and takes a stab at the psychological make-up of the often underestimated and complex woman known even today as simply Jackie.

The opening scene provides the first of countless close-ups of Natalie Portman as Jackie. Different than the usual movie close-ups, these are somehow closer – more intimate and more intrusive. The shots make us uncomfortable, as if we are intruding on her personal space. This is by design, as the film takes us to a surreal place where we see Jackie the person, rather than Jackie the icon. The framing device used is an interview she granted to Life Magazine reporter Thomas H White (Billy Crudup billed only as “the journalist”) at the Kennedy compound in Hyannis Port, merely a week after the assassination.

To grasp the concept here from director Larrain and writer Noah Oppenheim (in a big stretch from The Maze Runner), it’s imperative to understand that, at the time, Jackie was the personification of a nation’s grief and the ultimate example of dignity and grace (yes, Seinfeld fans, she had grace). We quickly witness the power and control she wielded. “Don’t think for a second I’m going to allow you to publish that” … she states after exposing her most vulnerable and personal thoughts. Later, she puffs on a cigarette and tells the reporter, “I don’t smoke”. It’s in these moments that we begin to realize the point – Jackie was a master at generating the “proper” public perception from even the harshest personal realities (many of which the film politely ignores).

Much of the film deals with her dogged pursuit of creating a lasting legacy for her husband. The idea of Camelot was meant to provide hope and idealism to the public who so wanted to idolize and romanticize the first couple. The symmetry with Lincoln – the portrait, the bedroom and the meticulously planned elaborate funeral procession – were meant to establish heft and substance for an all-too-brief administration that even had brother Robert (Peter Sarsgaard) lamenting how little was accomplished. These were the calculated strategies of a woman who was much more than the charming and slightly nervous host who took America on a televised tour of The White House on CBS in 1962.

The film utilizes flashbacks to the Lincoln Continental with the Texas Schoolbook Depository in the background, as well as detailed recreations of The White House, Parkland Hospital, Air Force One, St. Matthew’s Cathedral, and of course, the pink Chanel dress. That said, this is certainly not a movie designed to solve the case or disprove one of the conspiracy theories … it remains steadfast as a close-up of Jackie.

Others in supporting roles include a nearly unrecognizable (and minus her usual ticks) Greta Gerwig as Nancy Tuckerman (Jackie’s social secretary and friend), John Carroll Lynch and Beth Grant as LBJ and Lady Bird, Max Casella as Jack Valenti, stunning lookalike Caspar Phillipson as JFK, and a remarkable John Hurt as the Priest helping Jackie through her spiritual crisis. But of course this is Natalie Portman’s movie. She captures the breathy vocals and the contrasting strong directness when dealing with Bobby and Lyndon. Her movements mirror those from the actual footage of the White House tour … it’s really a performance to behold.

Many original images, videos, and clips are blended/spliced into the re-enactments to add a touch of sentimentality and prove how close to reality the film holds. One thing to brace for is the most unique score you’ll likely hear in a film this year. Mica Levi’s unusual sound brilliantly complements the many moods of Jackie, and even manages to remain strong around Richard Burton’s rousing rendition of “Camelot”. Ms. Portman’s performance and the behind-the-curtain approach work well in reminding us that these were real people … not just Kennedys.

watch the trailer:

 

 

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Posted by David Ferguson