The Zone of Interest director Jonathan Glazer explains the story behind one of the film’s key recurring scenes. Starring Sandra Hüller and Christian Friedel, The Zone of Interest is a film about a Nazi commandant and his family who try to build their own paradise while living on the outskirts of Auschwitz. The Zone of Interest has garnered massive critical acclaim, and has received five Oscar nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director for Glazer.
Speaking with The Guardian, Glazer reveals the meaning behind one of The Zone of Interests most memorable recurring images: a girl hiding food. According to Glazer, the aspect of the film is based on a real-life story of a 90-year-old woman he met who had worked for the Polish resistance at age 12. This woman, Alexandria, used to leave apples at the concentration camp, and one day found a piece of music by Auschwitz prisoner Thomas Wolf. Glazer elaborates on this story below:
“She lived in the house we shot in. It was her bike we used, and the dress the actor wears was her dress. Sadly, she died a few weeks after we spoke.”
“That small act of resistance, the simple, almost holy act of leaving food, is crucial because it is the one point of light. I really thought I couldn’t make the film at that point. I kept ringing my producer, Jim, and saying: ‘I’m getting out. I can’t do this. It’s just too dark.’ It felt impossible to just show the utter darkness, so I was looking for the light somewhere and I found it in her. She is the force for good.”
Why The Girl Hiding Food Is Such A Key Part of The Zone of Interest
The scene of the young woman hiding apples is a key part of The Zone of Interest. Breaking free from the style of the rest of the film, the scenes are shown with thermal cameras that make the shots appear almost like film negatives. While the young woman might be a “force for good,” the detached style still creates a disconcerting feel for these moments as the audience speculates on what this girl could come to find.
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Like the rest of the film, the dread never manifests in visualizations of the horror. In fact, Glazer’s explanation offers a more hopeful interpretation to the moment than one might initially suspect. Because she is leaving food, the aforementioned scene does indeed take audiences out of the “utter darkness” of the bulk of The Zone of Interest, where, in distant shots, the audience watches the vileness unfold largely through dialogue alone.
Part of what makes The Zone of Interest so horrifying is its basis in truth. While key elements of the film are dramatized for the screen, Nazi commander Rudolf Höss was a real person with a family who lived in close proximity to Auschwitz. It is also chilling, in a unique way, to know that Alexandria’s story, represented by the young girl, is also a true part of The Zone of Interest’s WW2 drama. As much darkness as there was, there also existed moments, even if glimmers, of “light somewhere” as citizens like Alexandria attempted to help.
The Zone of Interest
The Zone of Interest is a historical war drama by writer-director Jonathan Glazer. Set during World War 2, the film follows Rudolf Höss, the commandant of the infamous Auschwitz concentration camp, as he tries to build a dream home right next door to the camp.
