The Zone of Interest

First Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie are not nominated for Oscars. The reward was to nominate this regrettable film for Best Picture.

To begin with, I was quite excited to see this film after watching the trailer. However, the disappointment was profound. Tragically, the movie reminded me of watching a film about a family that ran a slave plantation in Alabama before the Civil War.

In summary, Rudolf Höss (Christian Friedel), the commandant of Auschwitz for over 3 years in 1943, and his wife Hedwig (Sandra Hüller) live in a dream home with their 5 children next to the extermination camp. They have a small pool and a flower garden next to the prison wall topped with barbed wire.

The principle short coming of the film is that it seldom goes into the camp to watch how over 1 million jews were put to death. Instead of being able to absorb the pain experienced by these transported victims of Nazi hatred, you only watch the daily lives of the Höss family. It becomes a German version of a “Leave it to Beaver” family show!

There were a few moments that left you shaking your head in disgust. Without saying more, you hated Hedwig after watching her trying on a fur coat among other clothes brought from the camp, not to mention having human ashes spread on her flowers for fertilization.

Hedwig was a great Nazi girl. She loved her home to such an extent that she decided to stay as an Auschwitz neighbor rather than move with her husband when he was transferred. Sadly, while the film suddenly ends before Hitler was defeated, it didn’t show Höss being hung after the Nuremburg trials. Nor do you know what happened to the delightful Hedwig.

Let me conclude by noting that the film begins and ends with several minutes of a blank screen where music is played. That was the best part of the movie.