Hacker Cinema
The Zone of Interest
2023 · Film · 105 min
Directed by Jonathan Glazer
The commandant of Auschwitz, Rudolf Höss, and his wife Hedwig, strive to build a dream life for their family in a house and garden next to the camp.
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17 comments on Hacker News
Next you will tell Arendt that The Banality if Evil had no host ideology at the time.
What did you see in The Zone of Interest? Just a documentary about a benign family?
Or are some humans worthy of more analysis than others?
Shame.
'Movies' at Blockbuster level pivoted to ersatz carnival rides post-'Pirates of the Caribbean', focusing on safe IPs and simple plots designed to aid comprehension of the major story beats in the SEA markets without the need to resort to subtitles or dubbing.
'True' Cinema has been going from strength to strength the last decade, with even Netflix putting out Fincher spectacles like 'Mank' on streaming, and A24 bringing introducing a new audience to phenomenal Korean Cinema like 'Parasite' and 'Minari'.
Even in the traditional studio system we have been spoilt in recent years by a succession of Palm D'Or and Oscar winners like Anatomy of a Fall, Triangle of Sadness, Zone of Interest, The Brutalist, Oppenheimer and Killers of the Flower Moon.
This is basically the plot to the movie Zone of Interest, which was inspired by modern day Israeli society.
We have kids complaining online about 40ms ping on their video games, and right down the kids are online complaining about how they're being hunted for sport.
How did this article get so many upvotes? Even among articles that pine for the good old days, this article is trash. Like 80% of it is just saying “remember that movie? And the things we thought were meaningful back then?”
The idea that modern movies don’t take risks is absurd. Have you seen Poor Things? Have you seen Zone of Interest? Mickey17? OBAA? There are more movies taking more risks in this era of film than there has ever been before. You’re just not watching them.
The real story here is the way lighting has changed and how it makes you feel when you watch the movie.
See: Zone of Interest - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Zone_of_Interest_(film)
I have definitely noticed the same occurring in North American cinema, but I do not think this is a new phenomenon. Rather, it's just a symptom of the increased commercialization of indie cinema - commercialization requiring film for all to understand.
If one is to broaden their horizons, overseas cinema is still devoid of this literalism. European cinema, Korean cinema, and the famously show not tell Japanese cinema still produce ambiguous stories that compete for awards - just look at recent pictures in Anatomy of a Fall, Zone of Interest, Drive my Car, Decision to Leave.
Perhaps you can share some examples of the films you are referring as "mindless banter in between sex and explosions". I'm not sure that description really fits most of the films coming out recently. If you said, "Dumb comic book films", I would maybe agree with you, but there isn't typically any sex in those so I assume you are not referring to them.
Covid halted the production of a lot of movies, and changed how others were made. It also shut down theaters. So, "since covid", is really talking about before and after an era. Kind of like saying, "since 9/11", in terms of the impact on culture. A lot of creativity has moved from the movie theaters to streaming services and from films to more episodic content.
However, here is a short list of films worth seeing (imo) since covid (2019).
Zone of Interest (2023) The Holdovers (2023) Parasite (2019) Dune (2021) Dune Part Two (2024) Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022) 1917 (2019) The Banshees of Inisherin (2022) The Substance (2024) Palm Springs (2020) Oppenheimer (2023) The Lighthouse (2019) Hundreds of Beavers (2022) Barbarian (2022) Flow (2024)
I would encourage anyone to familiarize themselves with the "banality of evil" [1]. Interestingly, there's this quote that's very apropos today:
> “The ideal subject of totalitarian rule,” she also says, “is not the convinced Nazi or the convinced communist, but the people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction no longer holds”
Anyway, the idea of this is "evil" is an accumulation of small, otherwise inocuous actions.
Consider the recent movie "Zone of Interest" that was set outside Auschwitz and never showed any of the atrocities. The whole point was that even on the steps of mass murder, life still appeared in many ways "normal" [2].
[1]: https://www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/blog/hannah-arendts-lessons-for-our-times-the-banality-of-evil-totalitarianism-and-statelessness/
[2]: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/12/18/the-zone-of-interest-movie-review-anselm
If you haven’t seen it, the 2023 film “The Zone of Interest” is an excellent movie that shows the banality of daily life in the Nazi regime.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Zone_of_Interest_(film)
> They looked so normal, having fun, teasing each other, drinking and playing instruments.
You may wish to watch this movie on the banality of the life of those who ran the concentration camps and who lived next to them:
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Zone_of_Interest_(film)
I’ve not watched it yet, but a recent film called the Zone Of Interest sounds like it aligns to this.
It’s about the Hoss family that lived next to one of the Nazi concentration camps, the father/husband ran the camp.
Also, I recently watched The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas and it again aligns to that point of view a bit.
In every post about LLMs there is someone to blindly say something like this.
When in reality if you ask ChatGPT for 10 good movies from this year you will get this.
Anora - Directed by Sean Baker, a compelling drama about the life of a sex worker in Coney Island.
Challengers - A provocative tennis drama directed by Luca Guadagnino, starring Zendaya.
Dune: Part Two - Denis Villeneuve's continuation of the epic science fiction saga.
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga - An action-packed prequel exploring the origins of Furiosa, directed by George Miller.
Inside Out 2 - Pixar's sequel that dives deeper into the complexities of human emotions.
Wicked - A musical fantasy adaptation directed by Jon M. Chu . The Zone of Interest - A thought-provoking film about Auschwitz, directed by Jonathan Glazer.
The Idea of You - A steamy romance starring Anne Hathaway.
Hit Man - A comedy thriller starring Glen Powell.
The Outrun - A powerful drama about a recovering alcoholic, starring Saoirse Ronan.
Let me know if you'd like more details about any of these!
Which is a great list.
The film Zone of Interest is an excellent examination of this, the banality of evil.
Interestingly the backlash towards the director's Oscar acceptance speech - a plea for peace and anti-Zionism - ended up highlighting that such people can even congratulate themselves for such atrocities when forced to reckon with an opposing voice. I wonder if this letter had a similar effect (given it clearly didn't temper any of their upcoming bloodlust)
Earthlings (2005)
as we are born into a civilisation taking for granted that exploitation of other live beings is something natural and ethically acceptable / neutral.
Unfortunately, our lifestyle decisions tend to support a machninery of suffering only comparable to nazi concentration camps.
oh, and speaking of, if you lived far enough (temporarily / culturally / geographically) it's good to recall once in a while what atrocites humans are capable of, even in regards to other humans:
"Zone of Interest" - fresh movie about everyday life in proximity of death camps
Go watch the recent movie "The zone of interest".
https://youtu.be/GFNtVaAuVYY?si=jiQlDA9Z1EKnPZ0Z
Indeed. Zone of Interest is a very impressive film that really explores the idea of ignoring politics.
A great loss.
I’ve actually been avoiding re-reading “Money” because I was so impressed with it a few decades ago and I’ve worried it might not live up to the memory. Now is probably the time for another ride in the Fiasco, John Self’s memorable Italian sports car.
A movie based on his novel “The Zone of Interest” just premiered at Cannes this week and seems to be getting rave reviews. Hopefully Amis had a chance to see it.