“Stranger Zone” directed by Jonathan Glazer is a shocking study of evil. The film, which won two Oscars, shows the private life of Rudolf Höss, the commandant of the Auschwitz camp, and his family in the idyllic setting of a house and garden on the outskirts of the concentration camp. As critic Michał Walkiewicz notes, “it is a story about a private paradise in the middle of someone else's hell.” From now on, the film can be watched on the Max platform.
Rudolf Höss (Christian Friedel) with his wife Hedwig (Sandra Hüller), their four children and a dog live in a spacious, meticulously clean house with a manicured garden. They celebrate family meals and dream about holidays Italy. On weekends they like to go kayaking or meet friends. In “Strone of Interest”, British director Jonathan Glazer presents the home idyll of the commandant of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. The only thing that disturbs the idyllic atmosphere are disturbing noises and sometimes desperate screams coming from behind the walls of the house. There is a concentration camp there.
Sandra Hüller in the movie “Business Zone”©Courtesy of A24/Mica Levi/Gutek Film
The film, based on the novel by Martin Amis, was highly praised by critics. Michał Walkiewicz writes on the Filmweb website that “Strefa biznes” makes a “colossal impression (…). It is a story about a private paradise in the middle of someone else's hell, a story about fulfilled torturers, from which a film about invisible victims develops.” Tomasz Raczek points out that it is a “sophisticated, brutalistically (not brutally!) styled film about the family of the commandant of the Auschwitz camp, showing the perfection and ordinariness of evil.”
Producer Ewa Puszczyńska emphasized in the “Monika Olejnik. Opening” program that “Strefa Pracy” is a warning because history repeats itself. – This is not a historical film as we understand it. This is a film that talks about the then and now, said Puszczyńska.
Two Oscars and three BAFTAs
“Strefa Biznesu”, which premiered in 2023, received numerous nominations and awards. This includes: two Oscars for the best international film and the best sound (co-created by Polish sound engineers from the “Dreamsound” studio), three BAFTA statuettes for the best British film, the best foreign-language film and the best sound, as well as the Grand Prix and the FIPRESCI award awarded at the Cannes festival.
The award-winning picture was created thanks to the work of many Polish artists and was entirely produced in Poland. The author of the photos is Łukasz Żal, the production was responsible for, among others, Ewa Puszczyńska, scenography by Joanna Kuś and Katarzyna Sikora, costumes by Małgorzata Karpiuk. The Polish co-producer is the Silesia Film Film Institution.
Max belongs to the Warner Bros. group. Discovery, the owner of TVN24.
Main photo source: Gutek Film