184 - The Zone of Interest

Dallas and Lee both rate 'Under the Skin' by director Jonathan Glazer as their favourite A24 film to date and after a decade he's returned with 'The Zone of Interest'. The Oscar nominated film follows Auschwitz commandant Rudolf Höss and his wife Hedwig strive to build a dream life for their family in a house and garden beside the camp.

Episode Transcript

(00:03):
Welcome to the nerd Party. Hello, and welcome to the A twenty four
project here in the Nerd Party Network, where we go through the A twenty
four back catalog and along the waybring you interviews with the talent involved in
front of and behind the camera.In this episode, we finally get the

(00:23):
chance to review the Zone of Interest, directed by Jonathan Glazer and based on
the novel by Martin amis So.Dallas, we very rarely ever get a
twenty four hour news just in timefor us to record. It always seems
to drop afterwards. But Variety randomlydropped an interesting article today with Martin Scorsese

(00:44):
and his terminally online daughter Francesca,and they revealed that they're writing a book
for A twenty four. Not reallymuch said about the book, but she's
writing a book with her father,and they're making a short film as well.
So what could they be making abook about? Any ideas, Dallas,
Well, if it was the historyof A twenty four over the last

(01:07):
sort of ten eleven years, Iwas hoping that A twenty four would have
come to us to write about it. I mean, we've reviewed pretty much
every film, you know, We'vediscussed every aspect of A twenty four.
Who better to write the official historyof A twenty four than us two?
But I mean, I can onlyassume it's sort of part love story to
the history of cinema and the preservationof thirty five mil mixed with what unearth

(01:32):
of TikTok is. I know,one day, one day, when we
ever like run out of A twentyfour films again, we'll just have to
do an A twenty four book clubto see what when that comes out.
But yeah, very curous to seewhat that one will be. The man
certainly never never takes a break,so I imagine he'll be doing this between
his Oscar campaigning and his Jesus film. Hey look, if it brings the

(01:53):
scorseses into the fold of A twentyfour, I'm all for it. Yeah,
we changed from his producing films wherewhat was that one? There was
the Green Dragon that was one,and then you've got the souvenir films on
the more classier side. So hecertainly popped up here and there. I
guess good time and uncut gems we'reproduced as well. But yeah, quite

(02:15):
curious to see when we get thiswill be the closest we get to something
like Out and Out his Yeah,it depends. I'm just now wondering what
type of book it would be.If it's anything like the screenplays, I
know that that's going to cause anissue in terms of the shipping costs.
So yeah, if it could bea nice paperback edition, Marty, that
would be helpful for the costs.Absolutely. Well, we've waited a while

(02:40):
to review this film, and it'sonly really got a bit of a huge
role out in America in the pastweek or so, but the zone of
interest is finally here as well.So obviously, as I mentioned, based
on the book by Martin Amis,Auschwitz Commandant Rudolph Hoss and his wife Hedwig
strive to build a dream life fortheir family in a house and garden beside

(03:01):
the camp so Dallas. We've mentionedmany a time, and over the ten
years plus of eight twenty four nearlyone hundred and fifty odd films, Jonathan
Glazier's Under the Skin is still Ithink it's safe to save both of our
favorite A twenty four films. Sotaught me through how excited for this film
were you and what was your initialreaction? Well, I mean, yeah,

(03:23):
on the Skin one of my alltime a twenty four films, but
you know, probably one of myfavorite films the of this century, not
quite the last decade on because wemoved since the twenty twenty is now.
But you know, he's he's arare talent in the you know, he's
a fantastic director, but also rarein you know, the length of time

(03:46):
between projects. You know, youknow, his last film was sort of
Under the Skin, you know,and that was twenty thirteen, twenty fourteen,
and then you had before that sortof birth was I think aroundabout so
two thousand and eight, and thenSexy Beast, you know, a back
another eight years before that. Soyou know, you do have to wait
for a while for Jonathan Glazer film, but you always can hope and expect

(04:11):
that you're going to get something reallygood. And you know, I saw
this bafter screen and I think backin November, and you know, I
was just you know, really excitedto see you. You know, wasn't
really sure i'd sort of I knowthat it was adapted from well again,
this is one of those Jonathan Glazerthings where you say, you know,

(04:32):
Under the Skin was technically adapted froma from the Michael Rosen novel. But
I think it's basically very loosely sortof taken the very sort of core element
and sort of expanded it into somethingof his own. And yeah, I
mean I was, yes, sortof blown away by the power of this
film. It's I mean, we'llget into it, but it's a very

(04:57):
you know, you don't see muchin terms of the horror, but I
think you are still blown away bythe power of the film, and it
provokes a lot of questions, Ithink, and that is something which cinema
should be doing, especially at timeslike this where you know, there's so

(05:18):
much going on in the world aboutyou know, what you choose to choose
to watch, choose to ignore,choose to take part in, and stuff
like that. So yeah, no, I think it's a film which you
know, it seems to be youknow, reminds of you know, it
was basically released around here in theUK around this time he was Memorial Day,

(05:39):
so it's a chance to sort ofreflect on the horrors of the past,
but also make sure that we don'tmake the same mistakes again. So
yeah, not very very impressed bythis one. Yeah, Likewise, I
think some of these projects that we'vebeen doing this podcast so long. I
remember when we spoke about there's gonnabe a new Jonathan Glazer film and it's
going to be called The Zone ofInterest, and a good couple of years

(06:00):
back, and I immediately put thisto be one of my most anticipated films
of whatever year it came out,and just something I've been looking forward to
for a long long time. AndI managed to successfully avoid the trailer.
I think it helped that the traileris just a mixture of audio and Mika
Levy's score, So there was acouple of times it was just about to
start playing and I was able tojust sort of put my head down and

(06:21):
just really concentrating and try and drownit out. But it meant that I
went into the film only seeing maybethe odd average screenshot and so on of
someone in the garden. And Ithink a tweet that I saw around the
time of the can kind of reviewsdropping where it was like it's like a
Nazi big Brother, and I waslike, Wow, I'm really really interested

(06:45):
in this kind of concept and soon. So yeah, I was really
really looking forward to it. Butone of those films that seemed to evade
me for several months. I forgotto renew my bathroom membership. I didn't
get the chance to go to theLondon Film Festival this year. It wasn't
one of the films that got tobe part of the London Film Festival tour
and so on. So yeah,it was one of those films where I
was desperate to see it again.I think, as you say, Jonathan

(07:09):
Glazer, films really come out,you know, you think a sexy beast
coming out, what two thousand,two thousand and one, and then in
that time we've had this, we'venow hit the fourth film as well.
So there's an element where, likesome of my favorite film directors, where
the lack of films make every oneof them a special event release. So
couldn't wait for this one. AndI went along to a really busy Saturday

(07:32):
night Sinney World preview and it wasone of those ones. I was a
bit wary of it because it tendsto be a bit of a joe public
crowd. How they're going to behave, how they're going to respond, and
you could kind of hear a pindrop during the whole film. So it
was a really great experience within thecinema as well, and a bit of
a relief. So yeah, Ithink from the turnaround from seeing that film

(07:55):
to then all the Oscar nominations comingout, I couldn't have been happier for
Jonathan Glazer. And it's great tosee the film has actually broken out to
that because I did not expect evenuntil the Oscars themselves, maybe you with
your kind of Academy Awards knows,would have maybe got hint that this was
coming back. I was so surprisedto see it, and even when I
was watching it live and it waslike Best International Film, Zone of Interest,

(08:18):
You're like, no chance it's makingthe top ten for Best Picture,
and there it was. So I'vebeen really excited to see the journey this
film has been going on with itits wider release. Yeah. No,
I mean it's a very pleasant surprise. It made the top ten. I
mean I think everyone was. Itwas. I don't know if what's Maybe

(08:39):
it's the Academy sort of over thelast couple of years, sort of widening
out the membership whatever book you know, two foreign language films, well two
and a half actually, if youlose Past Lives as well, but Anatomy
of a Fall and Zone of interestgo into the Best Picture line up,
which is fantastic. So yeah,it's a great, great step forward.

(09:00):
And I mean I know that Iwas lucky enough to see at the Battle
screening and then I don't know.I obviously didn't give away any spoils and
stuff like that, but the onlything I was basically said, you know,
is make sure you see it ina cinema. You know, if
you get the chance to get ascreener of it and watch on the laptop,
it's not going to have the sameimpact. And I had a huge
amount of that. It's down tothe fantastic work on the score by Mickey

(09:24):
Levy, but also the general thingdesign And it's my personal pick to win
at the Oscars in the best sound. You know, best sound normally goes
to like these action blockbusters with allthe sound mixing of all the different elements,
but I think the sound design inthis film is hugely important in sort
of hitting you with the true powerof the film. I think, yeah,

(09:46):
absolutely so for me, that's theone thing that I must admit.
I as I mentioned, I wentinto this as blind as it possibly could,
and while watching this film, welleveryone knows how shits was real people
worked there. I was unsure aboutthis family, whether this was an element
of I think the book, ifI'm correct, tends to go by it's
a bit more of a fictional family, whereas this is actually based on a

(10:09):
real family, the Hosses. Ididn't realize that until til afterwards. And
there's a really good documentary on theBBC about sort of Rudolph Haas and his
life after the Zone of interest forthose people interested. But what did you
make of the choice to do reallife Nazis? And what did you make
of the performances, you know,in particular of our lead lead, our

(10:33):
lead Nazis and fascists. You know, we've obviously got very lucky with Sandra
Huler this year. She's obviously kindof really kind of stormed off with obviously
this in anatomy fall and obviously aChristian frudo is Rudolph Haas. What did
you make of their performances? Ithought the entire cast was excellent, to
be honest, you know, it'sit's an interesting one because you know,

(10:56):
they have to play a certain way, and yeah, I mean, you
spend the entire film with this family, so you could end up feeling conflicted
at times. You know, attimes you know it's I guess it's it's
part of the thing, you know, it's they're at times they are presented
as a normal family. They're justliving in this house. It just so

(11:20):
happens that they're Nazis, and thework that the husband and father is doing
across the other side of the fenceis some of the most horrific things that
have ever happened in the world.I mean, I have to say that,
you know, for me, SandraHuller is probably in this film,
probably my most hated character that hasappeared in a film over the last sort

(11:45):
of a year. I think Iwould have to say, just immediately from
the off, when she receives apackage at the door and she's trying on
this new well not new, hernew fur coat and lips and you know
where that's come from, and she'sjust sort of really happy that she's got

(12:05):
this oh design of her coach's tryingit on, and you're just like,
you are just the worst person inthe world, and you know, it
just gets even worse actually later on, you know, just when you know
you think she might be able toturn it around, you know she might
be, you know, maybe showingelements that she's a good wife, she's
a good mother, you know.The the husband says, yeah, unfortunately,

(12:28):
where my placement here is coming toan end, all being transferred.
We have to go back to Berlinso I can work on the final solution
there, and she's like, well, technically you're being transferred, aren't you.
I'm not leaving. I've built thisreally nice house here. I enjoy
living here. I've got a swimmingpool in the garden out of the back.

(12:48):
I'm going to stay here with thekids. You can go to Berlin,
do what you do, but I'mnot leaving. And you're just like,
oh my god. And you know, it's that sort of juxtapose against
the scene where her own mother comesto stay and sort of hang out with
the children, you know, spenda night's weekend with the family. But

(13:09):
then she wakes up at night sortof coughing and sort of looks like the
window and it's basically horrified by youknow, the stens of the fumes that's
coming out of this death factory essentially, and then she's disappeared the next day.
It just really hammers home just howblinkered people are to it. You

(13:31):
know, the children might maybe nothave been as aware, but certainly I
got the filing that Sandra Hull's wifeknew exactly what was going on, and
yeah, chose to ignore it,but also didn't really care. You know.
I think if anything, the husbandwas maybe slightly more conflicted. You
know, he's got been tasked withthis job and you know, something towards

(13:56):
the end, I'm sure we'll talkabout it, that does seem to be
slight more moments where he's unsure ofthe path that he's taking. But you
know, for me, Sandra Villainof the Year, and I saw this
film before I saw Anatomy of aFall, and therefore there was this huge
question about in that film, isshe innocent or guilty? Based on zone

(14:16):
of interest, I'm pretty sure thatshe probably was guilty. So yeah,
it's it's so fascinating that in afilm about Nazi's fascists, the worst people
possibly on the planet, that sheedges ahead. And it was It's a
really interesting film, but I lovedit. How it was like when I
heard about what this film was like, I was immediately like hoping it would

(14:41):
commit really to the bit of like, I just wanted to really focus on
this family, their woes, theirexperiences, and just that's the focus.
Like I never really want to seethem step into Auschwitz themselves. I never
want to see perhaps like I thinkof, you know, the wonderful films
Son of Saul, where it's like, what's it like on the other side

(15:03):
of that wall and so on,like stories have been told before. Clearly
you are in the minority compared tothe letterbox reviews that have been coming out
from the general public in America's finallyseeing this film, like the Oppenheimer crowd,
why didn't they show a scene ofwhat happened to the Japanese And it's
just like, it's not that story. It's the story of a family who

(15:24):
just basic, you know, it'sthe banality of evil for me is what
this film is about. And it'sdone perfectly. Yeah. I was the
exact same, because, like,I know what happens happening on their side.
The film is making us painfully awarewith that incredible sound design, what
is going on there? The wholetime, I wanted to see a film
about a family trying to make somethingwork in amongst the worst possible place on

(15:50):
the planet. That's a fascinating filmto explore something I'm really interested in watching.
And I'm perfectly educated and aware enoughto know what's going on the other
side, which just makes all themore tense. And I just I really
did like that because like, asyou're talking about it, where I'm like
that host guy is like he's anasshole, but like he's he is trying

(16:12):
to make something work for his family. Here there's an element of compromise.
It is like really simple family dramaand they're the worst possible people. But
it's amazing how much you get caughtup in this family drama of like,
oh god, you know, likehe's begging, he's trying it. It's
so mundane day to day and that'swhat grounds this film for me, is

(16:34):
that you get really caught up intheir experiences, which I just thought was
such a fascinating experience and so on, and it never ventured away from that.
It challenges you as an audience towhether you find sympathy or not.
But there's something to be said aboutjust sitting with this family and going,

(16:55):
Okay, let's go along with thejourney with them, and you know,
how do you balance it? Yeah, you'll it's the most conflicted you'll feel
about a Nazi family since the soundof music. But no, I just
want to sort of touch back onthe on the on the sound design there,
and I mean, it's just tosee how the wider audience. You

(17:15):
know, you because you said youwent to see it unlimited screening with the
general public. About how it startswith about a five minute sequence of just
sort of like a black and ared screen with nothing but ambient background noise.
You can hear sort of the windblowing, sort of leaves, rustling,
sort of birds and stuff like that. And to begin with you,

(17:37):
like I mean, as a projectionist, initially, in like the first thirty
seconds, you're like, is somethingwrong here? Is something wrong with the
cam? And then you're like,oh, no, wait, I know
what they're doing. I see whatthey're doing. And it is a master
stroke of sound design. And whatthey're doing is there is tuning you to
the background noise. So when youthen enter this house and this garden of

(18:00):
this family, not only are youlistening to their conversations and stuff, but
your ears are trained to be ableto pick up on all the noises that
are happening. Outside of the houseon the other side of the fence,
so you can hear the odd scream, the odd cry, the odd gunshot.
And that's what makes it even morehorrifying that you know that they knowing

(18:22):
that this family have also tuned outthat noise. They've lived there that long,
they've been able to tune out andmake themselves completely separate to what's the
horrors that are going on. Andyeah, I think that's why the sound
design I'm just gonna yet. Sounddesign is genius and some of the best
sound design ever ever. I read. I read a really good interview the

(18:44):
other day where they were like,and I think you spoke about it like
this is a film that you kindof need to watch and experience in the
cinema, and they spoke about howthey've actually made a different audio cut,
so you know, make sure todifferentiate between the two cuts that you watch
on on letter box, where it'slike for the home release, the background
track will be louder because the sortof cinema helps kind of make that feel

(19:08):
a bit louder, whereas at homeit kind of needs to push up a
little bit more further just so thatyou can experience it so there's definitely there's
a different audio cut that's going tobe coming. It'll be interesting to see
how people whether for people like us, the experience in the cinema, whether
it will have that same experience.But I think one thing I found absolutely
fascinating about the film, and itwas one of the few things I knew

(19:32):
going in was this big brother aspectof it and I'm curious, didn't get
what your thoughts were on it.And for those that didn't get to experience
the film, I found it wasa really interesting kind of taught with Sandra
Huller where she spoke about the experienceand how it was was shot for those
that were curious, and it wasessentially it was a big brother house that

(19:55):
and I'll quote this for a momentor two, but you could shoot simultaneously
from Greek Gate in the garden intothe house, through the kitchen and all
the way to the office, soyou wouldn't have any problem with continuity or
with light because everything fits together.It creates something very important for this work,
which was a sense of surveillance.You're you're constantly looked at, and
then of course because we're German,there's a sense of judgment, which is

(20:15):
interesting. The pressure was very uncomfortablebut necessary. Creates a focus for the
actors at the same time because thecamera never turns, so you can never
relax. You only have each other, so you have to rely on each
other so much, and on yourselfbecause you can't hide anything. You're constantly
centered on yourself. You're in thisroom and you know everyone watches you.
It's very intimidating and really really useful. And then she went into the kind

(20:37):
of technical aspect where she was like, you never spend any time with light
change, technical interruptions make up nothing. We were alone in the house with
the directing assistant, who sometimes toldus when they cut, sometimes when they
didn't. There were sixty microphones inthe house, so sometimes we had to
communicate secretly when we had a problembecause we knew that they would use everything
we do. Sometimes the camera rollfor forty five minutes. We never knew

(21:02):
when the scene was over. Thefact that you were alone with this creature
around you, because it felt verymuch like a creature or a presence,
was very special and very cute tosee if people will work in the same
way in the future. Because youcut out a lot of things you don't
like about filmmaking, really, andit was an interesting one because it almost
made me think of what was citingSounds voted best ever film, which was

(21:23):
shot in the exact same way.I got to watch it a couple of
weeks earlier that Janine Dielman at twentythree, where it was like you just
walk someone, watch someone walk fromthe kitchen to the living room, the
living room to the bathroom, andit's just shot in this very kind of
clinical way, and it just againmade you just feel really uncomfortable and very

(21:45):
immersed in it. It didn't feellike you were watching a film. Even
I was very surprised that the lackof Mika Levy score as well, which
I think has been reflecting and probablyher lack of an Oscar nomination, because
I don't think it made the Christthe Eligi a bit eligibility criteria in terms
of how much music was used inthe film. You know, it's a

(22:07):
fascinating thing because what it does is, I guess it places you almost as
another member of the family. Iguess, you know, if there were
more elaborate tracking shots and in cinematography, it would sort of place another sort
of barrier or sort of create moredistance between yourself and this family. But

(22:33):
by having it as these static shotsand just sort of following them around their
day, it's almost yeah, soit's almost like you're also sat at the
dinner table with them, or you'rein an armchair sitting across from a hoss
in his office and stuff like that. It does place you in the center
of the action and it's very difficultfor you to get away, so you
you know, you're experiencing everything thatthey are, and I think that's what

(22:57):
adds to the an element of complicityin the action as well. It's like
you can't escape from this family,and you can, you know, you
you want to given you know what'shappening, but you're it's impossible for you
to do that. So yeah,just it's just so good. I mean,
it seems to kind of build uponthat where I think a few weeks

(23:19):
before I rewatched Sexy Beast, whichfeels like it could have been further from
from how what Jonathan Glazer evolved into, but it felt like it was a
continuation of that style that he wesaw in Under the Skin of Under the
you know, kind of cameras peoplebeing unaware that they were being filmed,
et cetera. It's just such animmersive experience really, it's it's terrifying,

(23:42):
horrifying, but it's just yeah,incredible. And you know, I guess
I don't use want to use theterm method acting, but I guess it
would almost be more akin to almostlike a theater produccial stage production, where
I guess the actress can never beoff, you know, like you say,

(24:03):
you know, they never really showwhat when was being filmed and when
the cuts were and whatever. Sofor the actress, they were having to
live within these characters for huge amountsof time, and I cannot only imagine
how difficult that must have have beento sort of stay in that sort of
mindset for so long as well,and I guess sort of added an extra
layer to it. It's an interestingone as well, because I think again

(24:30):
it feels like it plays out thisvery kind of traditional family story until the
end. So for those that haven'thad the chance to watch sort of interest
yet, feel free to switch offand come back down the line, but
a very interesting ending that certainly leftme wondering and reflecting afterwards. So for
those that just need that reminder,hass has been kind of transitioned to Berlin.

(24:52):
He knows that he's often sort ofoversee the final solution, and easy
leaves his Berlin office. You starteast and his body starts physically wrenching on
the sort of these stairs, buthe's unable to vomit. And then we
cut to sort of the present dayin sort of outfits, where it's this
museum where we see the kind ofthe barricades, the old shoes, et

(25:18):
cetera. And we were with thatfor for a few minutes as cleaners and
janitors go around their their job,and then we cut back to Berlin and
sort of host head continues on downthe stair well. So, dellas,
what did you make of that?Very very surprising ending. I mean,
it's sort of like took a lotof people's breath away, And the screening

(25:41):
I was in it was just like, you know, a hard you know,
he's like you say, he's likehis body is physically reacting to not
only the decision of you know,the Nazis in general to do this,
but also the fact that this responsibilityhas been placed on him, and he
almost you know, he's physically reactingto it, but he can't. He

(26:04):
can't actually vomit. There's still somethingholding him back. And then it's like
he looks down the corridors like hethinks he sees something, and it sort
of pulls back and pulls back awayfrom him, and then it cuts this
really hard cut to yet the modernday out switch and just sort of a
group of cleaners sort of going aroundmaking sure that the museum is ready to

(26:27):
open for the day for people tocome and reflect and find information about loved
ones that they've lost in the pastand stuff like that. And it's a
really really sort of powerful moment tomake that switch, And to be honest,
I was thinking, well, it'sjust going to go to the end
credits now you know, it's madeits point, but then to cut back

(26:49):
again. And this is why Glazeris, you know, been nominated for
Best Director. He won Best Directorat the London Great Circle last night along
with Best Film for this and tomake that decision to then cut back to
Hoss, who then basically sort ofgoes right, composes himself and then carries

(27:10):
on down the stairs essentially like well, I'm still gonna do it, you
know, I feel physically sick.About it, but you know, knowing
what's going to happen and still decidingto fall down that path is just an
absolute gut punch of an end ofa movie, and I think it makes
the film better for it. Youknow, it would have been a fantastic
film anyway to have ended on thathard, gut to hou switch. But

(27:33):
to cut back to him in thatmoment and know that it's not not changed
anything. He's still gonna go ahead, and we're still gonna Yeah, he's
still going to go It's just incrediblyyet a genius move by by Glazer for
me, I think, and it'sit's what makes the film even better.
Yeah, and it's interesting. I'venever been to Aschwitz, but I've always

(27:55):
been curious to visit it, andit reminds you when you go to some
of the these museums where I think, like the Nine to eleven Museum in
America, where it's one of thebest museums I've ever been to, but
when you're walking around it, you'reconscious of, like, the most horrific
death and destruction took place here.And you know one thing that always sticks

(28:18):
with me. It's not necessarily shoes, but I remember walking through it,
and there was a section that wasjust dedicated to golf balls where the amount
of golf balls that were found inthe wreckage because they survived the pressure that
went down on them. And you'rejust like, these are just remnants of
people that were going around their daythat were just wiped out in such cruel
and horrific ways and so on,and there's an element sometimes of like what

(28:42):
is it like to work in theseplaces? And well, very different types
of people that are working and outfitsnow and then and so on. It
it reminds you that it's it's stillthis weird place of work. And it
also reminded me somewhat on and I'mnot slighting more amusing where it was Cribyan
enthusiasm where there were it ended ina sort of Jewish museum and hapless Larry

(29:07):
David splashed his shoes and so onand needed to grab a pair of shoes
and grab a pair of the Jewishshoes and it was just like the most
bizarre thing, where like, thisis definitely two interesting endings. That was
the ending to a season, Thisis an ending to a film. It
was it was just really fascinating andone that I'm so, you know,
they didn't need to make to maketheir point, but it was such a

(29:29):
really interesting one. And just watchinghosts descend, you know, make the
decision to literally walk into the darknessstep at a time, and so on,
and yeah, you're reminded of thatthese are while we spend so much
of these times just just swimming aroundwith people and you know, going around
on their horses and having family discussionsand disputes. The end of the day,

(29:51):
these are horrific people as well.And it's again a testament to the
immersive nature of cinema that we cancan go on that experience and be exposed
to these different feelings and thoughts onon one of the most shocking families ever.
Yeah, I mean it's it's adifficult film to watch, you know,

(30:11):
any film, but it's going tobe a difficult film. But I
think it's I think it's sensitively handled. It it's a new perspective on events
which everyone is completely familiar with.Yes, some people have. It feels
like some people have sort of missedthe point of oh, yeah, the

(30:33):
nazisier. I don't need to spendtwo hours and Nazeason whatever. But it's
you know, everyone talks about,you know, the horrors of it,
and you know you get experiences ofthe people who are in the camps and
whatever. But you know, it'sjust another chance to sort of see the
mindset of the people who perpetrated thisand how you know they were normal people

(30:56):
just in charge of you know,one of the most things which has ever
happened. And I think you knowthese this film, you know, it's
had a very sort of slow rollout. I think that's important. Whatever you
think, when you go go widetoo fast, there's potential for some of
that power to be lost. Youknow, it's a film which is going
to you know, do very wellon word of mouth and stuff like that.

(31:18):
And it's a film which you know, demands discussions. I know a
friend in Italy who went to ascreen of this overhaul Acaust Memorial weekend and
they had they did took part inpost screening discussions and q and as,
and I think it's the right forum. You know, cinema can make a
difference. And by showcasing films likethis and getting people into cinema and talking

(31:42):
about it, I think that's whereyou know, change can happen. You
know, you see all the dollshappening in the world just now, and
it's you know, if people justsit by and do nothing and not take
part in the discussion or try tochange stuff, that's when you know,
these things are allowed to continue.And so yeah, that's why I think
somebody like Zone of Interest is importantfilm, and I think it's great that

(32:06):
it's being recognized for its power todo that. And I guess, yeah,
a testament to A twenty four tofor you know, once again taking
a film which is very difficult tomarket, and you know, I think
they've done a fantastic job. Youknow, it's how do you sell a
movie like this? And I thinkthey've managed to do it in the correct
way. And it's interesting as wellwhen you compare the release in America to

(32:30):
the UK. So this is oneof the I think this is the third
A twenty fourth film that's ever beendistributed by themselves in the UK after Everything
Everywhere, all at Once and theWhale, and there was there was criticism
I think online fair or not veryfair about a very slow roll out in
America. People were very interested tosee this film, but we're not finding

(32:52):
it coming to their cities and youknow, we're desperate to see it,
whereas it feels like for us therewas a lot of previews at Picture House
Cinemas, Sinney World, it kindof got a big roll out in one
real big going sort of the traditionalkind of prestige film release section. It
feels like it's they've gone really big, and I think it's benefited from a

(33:15):
pretty quiet spell in the cinemas justnow. I've been films like Wonka for
Crying Out Louder are still getting abig rollout, and so I think it
seems to do well in the UK, and I think and at the end
of the day, it's I thinkit's very fair to say it was easy
to criticize A twenty four is avery slow release of it in America,
but how many times have they releasedfilms similar to this and it's just completely

(33:36):
vanished And because the audience wasn't reallythere for it, And as much as
you want to see people online going, I want to see zone of interest
when I'm going to see it.They made the right decision and gamble to
hope for OSCAR nominations to then rollout in the cinemas, because how many
films that are kind of Jonathan Glazerstyle art house films with a kind of

(33:58):
limited budget in either German, Polishor Yiddish. Those aren't box office successes.
Whereas you kind of strike lucky withthe Oscar nominations and now they roll
out past week. It seems tobe the wise idea and probably worth the
wait for them as it was forme here in the UK. Yeah,
no, I'm just sort of checkingthe UK. Yeah, because it did

(34:21):
have a wider release in the UK, which but I think they picked the
right week, you know. Ithink in the US it started to roll
out around about Christmas time, buthere, you know, they basically did
previous overhaul Claust Memorial Day and yeah, it's just out this weekend. And
yeah, I think they made theright choice because you know, obviously it

(34:42):
is a very it can be avery crowded market in the US and in
the UK, you know, witha lot of the cinema you know,
Oscar nominee sort of coming out atthe same time. But you know,
it seems to have managed to hitthe right sort of time in the market.
And let me just no, thisis last week's things, but yeah,

(35:04):
I mean they've got a lot ofyou've got stuff like you know,
All of Us Strangers is doing reallywell and stuff, and Poor Things has
done fantastic, So you know,audiences in the UK are going back to
the cinemas, but they're also willingto take it feels like they're willing to
take a bit more of a riskat the moment. You know, with
Poor Things being an eighteen rated film, you know, it's still done very
well and stuff like that, soyou know, audiences are coming back for

(35:24):
this type of film. And youknow, Jonathan Glazer was British, but
I don't think that really, Idon't think he's not a household name that
is, like Christopher Nolans, somebodythat would be able to sell, you
know, a movie based on hisname alone. And I think it's just
it's the right film, which ishit at the right time. I think
for this one, it's going tobe interesting. So we'll obviously be back

(35:45):
next week because Iron Claw finally arrivesin cinemas here and obviously that was a
film that received a lot of Oscarbars, but this is one. For
two months now, I feel likeevery single film I've seen at the cinema,
side the Iron Crass Iron Claw trailers, So I'm looking forward to seeing
how audiences click with with that oneand finally being able to see this one,

(36:05):
especially with a wrestling maniact like yourself. Yes, no, it's I've
already seen it. I was luckyenough to see it in the States when
I went over to New York,and yeah, I was. I was
kind of familiar with the story,but I still wasn't prepared for how for
some of the places it goes.But it is certainly not your typical wrestling

(36:29):
movie. It's a family drama setin the world of wrestling, but still
with enough wrestling nods for me tobe able to geek out and go o
get Yeah, No, I knowthat, I know that, but certainly
you know it's it's It's probably justabout as dramatic as the current things going
on in the ww with the returnof Doing the Rock Johnson looking to take
on his cousin Roman Reigns for Headof the Table at the sacrifice of Cody

(36:52):
Rhoads. But that's a whole otherpodcast. I'm sure i'd be able to
do. Yeah, I'm looking I'mlooking forward to discussing that, and I
think we'll we've as we wait formore films to kind of make their way
over. I'm looking forward to I'veonly got one episode left of the Curse
to Go and I cannot wait totalk about that one with you. It
has been a show that I've hadto really pace myself to handle the awkwardness

(37:17):
of it all. So it'll beinteresting to see how you get on when
you end up having to blitz toDallas. Yeah. No, I mean
yeah, it sounds like a filmwhich is very difficult to blitz. So
I might have to start drip feedingnow that they're all online. So yes,
yeah, I've heard many, manythings, and I still don't think
I will be prepared for what I'mabout to watch. So well, everyone

(37:40):
be prepared because we'll be back nextweek to discuss the Iron Claw. Thanks
everyone for listening. Bye,