AN UNEDITED CONVERSATION BETWEEN FRIENDS ON THE ZONE OF INTEREST.

This is some kind of next-level filmmaking. It’s very artistic, nothing happened but it was accessible to me and I was always interested.

This might sound choppy and saying, I think the movie Definitely humanizes Nazis but not through empathy. Yeah like it does it doesn’t make you Want to feel bad for Nazis or it’s not trying to make you feel bad for Nazis but like definitely it humanized them in the most human way like their lives are kind of mundane, you know.

Like it’s the guy’s birthday. And they get him, a kayak. And it’s like, oh, this is nice. Thank you for my birthday present, whatever. And then like, you know, a little bit later on the mood, he’s fishing. Yeah. Big deal, right? And they’re growing the garden, big deal like they kind of have a mundane life.

Meanwhile one of the most awful things in human history in recent human history is going on on the other side of the yard. Yeah. You know on the other side of the fence so like it’s it’s weird because it’s not like, you know, and then he has like some regular Nazi conversations on the phone.

Was just like, is there gonna be a moment where somebody says, oh my gosh. The horror like, you know, yeah. When the chemical is the ashes swim down. Yeah. When he’s fishing, you see the cloud of Ashes, or whatever creeping up behind them. Yeah. And it disturbs their existing wave and they gotta watch it.

They want the simple things. Well, the wife treats, the, the I think she’s Jewish she might not be the the maid really poorly? Remember like she doesn’t like take the empty plate away from the breakfast table and she’s just like, yeah, my husband can Uh you know spread your ashes across whatever.

Basically like smarten up or like you know you know what’s gonna happen to you and it was like, oh, That was. Weird. And I’ve heard, you know, like in the sad thing is I’ve heard people talk about like maids in that way today. Not directly like I haven’t seen that, I’ve heard human.

Yeah, yeah. And you know, like cast systems in other countries and in that kind of thing. So it’s like it’s like right my point is like she’s kind of like a regular person mundane they’re kind of bickering and then there’s like just like little glint of like Terrible. Awfulness to this maid of like you know I’m gonna spread your ashes.

You know, if you don’t like clear the breakfast table when, you know, before I sit down. It’s like what the hell? Yeah, like weird. It’s weird because they’re monsters. Did it like live? What expectations did you have going into it? Honestly, like I said, all I knew was the premise.

Yeah. Like when I was saying to Rachel, just because she said, what’s it about? I was just like, yeah, it’s this family that lives next door to concentration camp. She asked me. She was just like, what happens? And I said I think that’s it. Yeah, like it’s just the things that could happen and she said, that sounds really boring and I’m like I get it but also like I want to know.

Yeah. Because she also said a similar thing about the Banshees of any Sharon because it was just kind of like what’s it about and that was like, what’s about this, you know, this these two friends, our friends for a long time and the one friend doesn’t want to be his friend anymore.

He’s like, okay. What happens? And I said, that’s it. She was just like How is that a movie? You know, and I was just like, but I want to know how he gets away from like, what happens. Like, it’s such a thing Banshees, I did, I did like it, the ending seemed.

From what I remember about the ending. Yeah, the death of the Friendship but like, that it seemed Petty, it’s just like, maybe did he take it too far? Because like doesn’t he burn down the house or something? Yeah. Yeah. So like and the dog? Yeah. Or the Jenny, the Donkey uh, had calling Pharaoh was donkey spoiler, or?

Yeah. Yeah. But why? Since I’ve seen it, but yeah, I remember the ended me a little bit Petty but also just kind of like Because it’s like if it doesn’t go the natural way that you would think where, it’s just like, okay, I guess we’re just not friends anymore and they go off their separate ways and find new friends.

It’s just like, well, if the one friend doesn’t want this to happen. How far is he willing to go? You know, like, to me that movie, In many ways Echoes this and parallels it, but is also the opposite because when I watched Banshees of in a Sharon I thought that it was very like telling of the times that we live in.

Now, yeah, the movie setting like Exactly a hundred years. Yeah ago. Okay. Okay, yeah yeah. So it was just kind of like the Civil unrest that’s happening now in the United States and like January 6th of like red States versus blue States and like people fighting with each other.

That’s at least the way that I saw out of like, people are so politically polarized. That seems like a reason what was political about that like he just didn’t want to be his friends anymore. His, uh, calling Ferrell’s friend anymore, because like, he just kind of was like, yeah, you’re boring.

Like, but at the same time, the Irish Civil War is literally going on in the background. Like, yeah, we know that because of context, but I don’t think they referenced that at all in the movie. Why do they reference it in the letters of Colin Farrell to the like to his sister or his sister to him?

Okay. All right. Maybe you remember better than me? I didn’t. I wouldn’t. Yeah, I wouldn’t have grabbed that anyway, but I was just too like, set in a time of war. That’s exactly a hundred years ago made me think about it. Like, as I was watching it, like, just how upset with people We are today like how politically polarized people are inconveniences not other people but I’ve I found because That writer is so gifted.

Like which originally, which writer Michael McDonough. Who did Banshees? Yes. Okay. He also did Three Billboards which I like writing and a lot of people don’t like but I found that that movie was very Maybe because it’s Irish lyrical. Like, and that writer is Irish and is accused of not being Irish, like lyrical, how like a verse in the chorus ever isn’t a chorus?

It’s, it’s yeah, it’s very like, it’s all about the writing in the dialogue. Okay. Dialogue is super important to the movie The Zone of Interest. I found the complete opposite. What was all Direction? It was all like what was visual and oral? Um, But it wasn’t. There was so little, that was spoken.

And what was spoken was, yeah, things that you absolutely like had to know to get context. That couldn’t be said visually, but so much has been seen visually. Whereas I found like um, Banshees to be like spoken lyrically like very beautiful, like 70. Being told in a way very beautifully sure.

And in a very smart way and this very equally being shown, you know, Okay, right. So I thought it was like, a, I guess more effective. Like, it was kind of like, And I don’t want, I don’t know how to like criticize it, but it’s very In an art house.

Typical way. This is how you should be inside the lines. Do a movie-like show, don’t tell, um, have something to say, but Create a believable world. Populate it with with characters with everyday lives but show, don’t tell and everything sound in the visual is, so important to this movie and done in a way like because they decided it was important.

Yeah. And he’s saying to you like okay, I know something hasn’t happened but I’m like, kind of riveted by this movie weirdly because it like it visually it looks so neat. Yeah. Like when he is, when he is fishing like it is a long still shot and you’re kind of just like something gonna happen.

Like you’re kind of waiting for something to happen, then you see the cloudy water. And if you’re not thinking about it, you might not realize that it’s something until it gets close. Is this like, yeah, something is getting close to him and then and then that’s when, you know, the tensions rising is like nope, get out of the water, right?

Like yeah, I don’t know. Like again, like a slow violin, I suppose. Well, I said to you that, at the end, it wasn’t until literally the end of the movie and I’m trying to find it here. If I can But the I said has the camera moved at all.

Yeah, that was a good point and since since you mind you mentioned it, it is halfway through. I was like, I don’t, I think you’re right. I don’t think it has but also like, now I’m looking for it and then since you mentioned it, I never noticed it move. And after that.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I hadn’t thought about it until you said it and then Yeah, and then I didn’t notice it after the fact. Yeah. Everything was still shot. Yeah. And that is like camera movement. So good that you do not. In notice like it Everything is so perfectly placed, I guess.

Uh, yeah, I don’t want to use it, I don’t want to say that like each shot was Thorough. But like every shot was Like, Um, Prepared. Yes. Or it seemed like every shot was deliberate. Yes. You know, like there was no, there were no wasted shots or there were no like filler shots like everything was necessary.

Everything was Uh, strategized that we need this than this. Then this, you know, like very specific did that work. Anyway against the movie where you’re kind of like, okay this is too like this is too prepared or too neat or do you think I want to say I would say no just because it was consistent, the entire movie.

Yes. Because like if it was like, you know, the first half or it’s just like oh and then things got crazy. And the camera got a little bit more wonky to like whatever it’s like, okay, it was this was one part of the movie. This is the other, but the entire movie is the same way.

So to say, like, take away then, it’d be, you’d be taking away from the whole movie. Yeah. I know. It’s not like the perfect metaphor, but it like reminds me of like One of the few games I 100 was, uh, Assassin’s Creed and the first one. Uh, the second one actually, uh, and I went through in, like, collected.

What is that one? Italy. Yes, yeah. Yeah, the Renaissance and um, Uh, they should do, everybody said they should do one in World War II, but they haven’t yet. Uh, I think they like older history and stuff like the 40s. Yeah, and Ubisoft is so anti-controversial. They’re like boring like, you know, they made a movie, they made Watch Dogs and like, went out of their way, not to comment on like surveillance same way Call of Duty.

Like goes out of its way and like, makes up a country for a global conflict that we all know is, either way too absurd to make any sense or something. I wish it’s like or just plug in conflict country here. Yeah, and then it annoyed me because it was like, um, You know metal of Honor one year during its reboot.

I’m not sure if you ever played it in 2010, they did Afghanistan. Is the plot of Medal of Honor 2010 and the Taliban originally like the OP of posing force and multiplayer and people like through a hissy fit that you like that. The Taliban were the bad guys that you could play as in multiplayer.

But they are though. Why did they change? They changed the name of them to the opposing force because people complained But why would they be complaining about like this? Because it’s like these are real bad guys that killed. Yeah. That killed actual people as if You know, as if playing as the Russians and like World At War or whatever was okay.

Yeah. Or yeah. For the Germans or whatever. We’re using German Machinery. Yeah. It’s hypocritical. That’s weird. Well, it’s it’s and it’s one of those things where it’s like, okay, well we’re making Commerce not our they ended up changing it. Um, okay. Yeah, I forget what my Original point, uh, really was, uh, but it was, I guess what I’d like to say is how Kind of unflinching this movie is and it’s wanting to confront, you know.

But without being in your face about it, you know, like it. Yeah, no point. Was that any of the parts of that movie in your face? Yeah. Oh yeah. Well, I was saying about how I would say that maybe the only thing was at the end. Showing the women cleaning the Uh, yeah, the museum, uh, the Mahwah, I don’t know, but like the I presume.

Yeah, the concentration camp Museum which I’ve never been to or anything. But I have heard is extremely humbling but yeah, seeing them cleaning the glass and then vacuuming or whatever. Like, imagine the same way that they kind of did throughout the movie. Yeah. Like they kept it to the same still shots like all those things but like not that it was in your face but it definitely took a slice a break like you took a break from the movie to see this thing and it’s like Oh yeah, this, this is how this ends.

You know what I mean? Because like, oh, yeah, because I believe that must be the only time in the movie, you see, inside of the concentration camp, considering you’re in the zone. Look, if you look at it that way, yes, yeah. Because they know in the movie, they never go inside the camp except well, you can infer maybe the one part with the husband.

It’s just his face, but surrounded with smoke and you hear the screams or whatever, but like you’ve never seen anything inside whatsoever. But yeah, I guess. Yeah. That’s right. That’s the only time that you see, it is like, present day. I guess it’s above reproach uh, sort of in that way that I didn’t think when it cut to the main day, which has kind of become a thing in movies.

Spike, Lee has done it in a few of his movies. They cut to the present day to show civil unrest to make the point. I didn’t think it was Powerful enough. What about squares for the, uh, Uh, can’t wait to the fire. Who’s the Fire Moon? When you like was just like, all right now it’s this year and yeah it’s it’s uh this is what happened to me.

It’s like an admission of the limitations of its director in a way for him, to do it to me that represents sort of like a failure of imagination. That was something that Steven Spielberg did because he didn’t know how to engineers list where he’s like, okay, well we’ll cut tissue Nora’s gravestone in real life and we’ll see the descendants of the people who saved and that’s when it will be in colour.

And it like worked then. And I feel since even though this didn’t feel connected to that at all, even though we invoked like shiner’s West during watching this movie, that I, it felt like, obviously it’s trying to make like another point of, like, this is the remains of what you saw.

Um, I thought that it was kind of I thought it was kind of weak. It’s like I’ve seen the piles of shoes before I’ve seen, so it’s kind of weird to talk about this in movie terms when it’s so rooted in historicism, you know? Yeah, I mean, kind of insulates as I’m thinking about it.

Now it makes me think like, you know because it he’s the, the husband’s walking down the stairs and, you know, goes to throw up or whatever and then it cuts away. It’s the women cleaning the windows and vacuuming the thing. And like, I feel like thinking about it now. Part of me subconsciously is like wanting to know what happens to him.

Like they did obviously Garner some interest in the family, like they’re the main characters and, you know, there’s like a little bit of a struggle because he’s gonna like move and then he’s going back whatever. But like part of me is like, wondering, like what hap, like, what’s gonna happen to these people and then right?

Right near the very end. It gives you that reminder of just like, it doesn’t matter. What happens in the end. This is what happens in the end. Remember, you know, and then it’s the shots of the museum and you’re just like, oh, yeah, it doesn’t matter. This is in fact how it ends.

So, we already know how this ends. Yeah, right. Hot was hanged in 1947 following a trial before the Polish Supreme National Tribunal during his imprisonment. At the request of the Polish authorities. Haas wrote his Memoirs released in English under this side title Commandant of Auschwitz. The autobiography of Rudolph Haas.

So he was a real guy. Yes. But, the zone of Interest makes no mention that it is a real guy. It’s not like, Like oh the inspired by a true story. Like I never said anything like that. Yeah, like if you never said that that was a real person that would had no idea.

Yeah. You could have believed it as like an official character. Yeah, yeah. But unbelievable fictional character. Oh sure sure, yeah, yeah. Because that’s the thing. It’s like one of the things of like because it’s World War II, it would be like it is something that you believe that somebody would like what if there was somebody who would beside Auschwitz the whole time and what it, you know, what would their life?

What would that be like? Yeah, yeah. So, in that way, it is like Mary, is it? So like I just figured because everything about the movie was so exacting. That I’m like, you know what? I bet you this is a real person. I wonder now. So he wrote an autobiography.

I wonder if the director or the writer or anybody makes reference to the book saying like, yeah, I was inspired You know, I was inspired to write something after reading this book. Is autobiography, right? So like I said, it makes no mention of it being a real guy like again.

I didn’t know it unless you said something. Well, it’s interesting because it’s like the movie is so vague and specific at the same time like its straddle is such a line. Yeah. You know that I found fascinating like earlier um, Now, I remember I was talking about like when you 100 like an open world video game and there’s like nothing to see here.

If you think about, like all the Holocaust movies that we’ve seen, how many have there been made, and we’ve kind of seen it all. Yeah. That like, of course, this is a different perspective. Yeah. That will find something new in the final way is like just seeing it for how regular is.

Yeah. Yeah. For every spontaneous movie like Fury or Saving Private Ryan. Yeah, there’s this one in between where nothing happens. Yeah. Right. Like yeah. And until the next time something does happen. Yeah. And it’s so funny because it’s like it kind of I don’t want to say it root like somebody once said on a trailer for a pong June home movie.

Um, that like uh, you know, this movie is so good. You’ll be wondering why you haven’t seen movies this good year, my whole life, and I just kind of thought about the care that was put it poured into each shot. I mean, obviously, this probably took like a year and a half, two years of work.

Who knows? Probably years of research. Yeah, yeah, that I was wondering like, you know, I talked about seeing Indie movies, you know, and that begin with nothing and I’m already bored by minute two and it’s like what makes this movie so different. And it felt like you did say that, the music they put obviously, like an insane amount of music.

Yeah, in the, in the music and the audio. And I mean like Well, like, how long did it take for it to fade to Black before the movie started with the Orchestra, you know, like like in the museum piece at the end, kind of brings it like I joked about it but like you’re now entering the zone of Interest.

Like it really is in a way to like, get you to forget, you know, I’m not that, you know, coming in or finding your parking or, or sitting down or walking in the house or turning on the TV. It’s enough to be like, kind of annoyed by the fact that you’re paying attention.

Like, you’re paying it, like, okay, is something gonna happen in it and you’re it’s, that’s how it got your attention and that’s how it brought you into the world. Just like a long slow violin. Yeah. Like almost like a museum ride to bring you like you’re sitting on a coaster the whole time like you know that ride and Jurassic Park at the beginning when they’re sitting on that thing and they’re like kind of on it.

I’m a track. Yeah, exactly that’s how it felt like we were we were being pulled through history there. Yeah. I mean I know that sounds like, like I’m trying to be like some kind of film scholar. I’m not. But no, yeah, but yeah, it did. Yeah, I think I don’t know.

I think that’s a neat way of putting it in terms of like yeah, they were able to find something new with this movie. Like again, for all the action-packed, crazy World War II movies, this movie is what happens in between those movies. Yeah. Some of the air is on right now and that’s bombastic in parts and they’re like it’s weird because it’s like we’ve seen you know, our culture At least how I was raised.

So yeah, but this movie deliberately like puts you at a distance. I’m putting together my list now because I’ve now seen it. Every single best-picture movie. This was your last one. Uh yes, this is the spot for a zone of Interest that I’m going to add Right now.

Um, and I’m gonna, and I’m gonna place it. The other thing that people have said, and it’s impartially based uh, on its uh, release strategy. I mean obviously above Maestro above killers, obviously above poor things to me, obviously above past wide. So I saw past lives Above Oppenheimer.

Man. Now here’s three and a half hours. This is half three hours. Yeah. And it accomplishes basically. The same kind of the same thing of like War is bad. No, I didn’t see American fiction. I want to see American fiction. Yeah, that will come to Amazon Prime at some time because it’s owned by MGM.

It’s funny to me because I could have seen Zone of Interest. Um, And the anatomy of a fall. I did see the holdovers and I did see American fiction. You put holdovers above him out of me before. Yes, they were all. They all played at the Toronto International, Film Festival.

And did you see them? I knew Anatomy of a Fall because it’s like these two premiered at the French Film Festival in May. Can where cares of the flower Moon also uh premiered and anatomy of a fall won. The top prize and zone of Interest won the director’s prize.

They were both like Hot Topics going in. So I knew they were like gonna be the Oscar films. I did not know that. I would personally like them. As much as I did. You know what I mean? Because it’s this kind of thing of a combination of my taste maturing the world and culture is taste maturing in the advancement of filmmaking in general.

out of 10, I guess for me. Um, I could Like to me, it’s It it exists in a fascinating space where the ranking doesn’t matter if somebody told me, it was zero out of 10 that’s found, somebody told me it was a 10 out of 10 that was vowed.

7-6. It’s valid. It’s valid all over the scale. Yeah. Except like weirdly Except in eight or like, Uh a nine, an eight or like a three, you know nobody ever I or yeah yeah because it’s just kind of like, if it got like an eight or a nine, it’s just like, okay well what was it missing?

Well, nothing but this is like, okay, so why not give it a 10, you know? Like Oh, but something wasn’t there. It’s like okay, then give it a five. Yeah, I don’t know. So this is like, of course, the last movie that I’ve seen out of all the best picture nominees.

And somebody said, I can imagine this movie winning best picture which like, I I to me, it’s like the idea. You can see that it’s definitely a contender I can see it’s weird. What are those movies where it’s like if you hadn’t seen it, I can picture somebody voting for it, thinking it would be right, that could it doesn’t, it didn’t?

I was expecting it to be quiet. Blow, it, blow me away. I guess I wasn’t disappointed in it, but it was like very it’s almost hard to criticize. I need it. I needed a revelation of some sort even if it was internal. No, I was thinking at some point. I was wondering if the in the middle or at the end if like, some Jew was gonna like Break Free or like somehow get out and disturb their and disturb their way of life.

Yeah, whether like, you know, the kids playing with a ball in the front yard and then all of a sudden like starts yelling or something and then they look out and there’s like some, you know, prisoner Jew, like freaking out or something like that because he escaped. And then like, you know, seeing a murder witnessing, a murder on the front.

Lawn I was like, okay, like I wonder if that was gonna happen but no, it did not. Yeah. Yeah, it says, uh, as Hosse leaves his Berlin office descending a stairway, he stops in wretches repeatedly but is unable to vomit, he stares. Okay, so he didn’t, yeah, that’s what I thought.

He, he stares into the darkness to see if he’s being watched, you know. And that’s why it was like you saw it sort of like the people and you see like the Blackness and I was thinking of it that like, because you’re like, kitty boss. Yeah. I did say I was just like, is he trying to is he trying to hold himself back but then like again it’s like a movie where you have to look all over the screen for the details.

And yes, it was the long dark Corridor hallway, and I was looking down the hallway to see. If there’s anything there, but like, There wasn’t maybe, you know. Yeah, and then yeah. But it’s kind of and it’s so funny how I can like freely talk. Like this is like a big brain movie where it’s like I can only legitimately talk about like it’s so accessible weirdly like, for a movie about nothing like it’s him, talking about wondering if he’s being watched, it’s like he is being watched by us by history and he knows that he’s being like that.

So we’re the ones watching him. Yeah. Yeah. And it’s not like, Judging him or whatever but it’s like he knows he’s being judged, you know, like for for what? He’s maybe in the ethos. Yeah. Yeah, even though throughout the entire movie, he doesn’t, Show it. No, it’s like, security cameras.

Haven’t been invented, you know, it’s it locks all the doors and stuff. You see him like close the lights. Lock the doors. Yeah. In the night or in the evenings? Yeah, it’s total isolation. So it’s like it’s a movie that like totally sits with you. It’s 105 minutes it felt like two hours like um, Yeah, that’s right.

Sorry. Yeah, yeah. So um I would say out of 10 for me I would I’d have to and it’s beyond that but I like to give it a seven like a perfect seven if that makes any sense. No less than a seven. Like I could say 7.5 but I don’t want it because I don’t enjoy it enough.

It’s weird because I’d watch it again. Yeah. Like because you loved it so much. Not so much like um Inception was the same way. I didn’t like it but I wanted I know there was more to be discovered. It’s kind of like a puzzle for people to unlock like it exists on its own terms.