I don’t think The Zone Of Interest is the kind of film you can write any kind of fulsome review about, at least if you want to concentrate on things like narrative or character. I went to see it at The Barbican yesterday with John and Mitch. It had been on our ‘to watch’ list for a couple of weeks. Now that we have seen it, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more disquieting, unsettling film: set during the holocaust, The Zone Of Interest is about the banality of evil. We glimpse the day-to-day life of the commandant of Auschwitz: a family man trying to cope with state bureaucracy and the needs of his wife, while in the background we get clues of unimaginable horror. At about 105 minutes it’s not a particularly long film, but it’s artistry and importance lies in the fact that we are never directly shown what is going on: the horror is only ever alluded to, as if the characters were running a factory like any other. For example, they discuss designs for new gas chambers as if they were discussing any other piece of machinery or architecture. The difference being that both the characters and audience know that they are talking about the mechanics of mass murder, which is what makes it so chilling.

I wouldn’t say The Zone Of Interest is an easy film to watch; it certainly isn’t a piece of standard, post-classical Hollywood cinema. Stylistically, it is quite jarring and haunting, the screen going blank for several seconds two or three times during the film. Of course, this suits the sheer horror of the text. Thus it is not a film one watches to enjoy, or get a thrill from watching: it is a film which says something about the mundanity of evil, warning us that it is all too evil to overlook if we’re not careful.