British director Jonathan Glazer's unique take on the Holocaust, based on a novel by Martin Amis. The 2023 Grand Prix at Cannes.
The commandant of Auschwitz, Rudolf Höss, and his wife Hedwig, strive to build a dream life for their family in a house next to the camp. This dovetails with the visual scheme outside in the extensive garden, all of it carefully landscaped according to historical records. The Höss family is first seen picnicking by the river on a sunny day with friends, and the camera often captures them in the garden, celebrating a birthday or splashing in the pool. Their house is located next door to a charnel house. We hear sounds in the distance, the occasional gun shots, the shouting of a soldier, we see the smoke belch out of the towering chimney. It's all right there, only a slight background disturbance. Yet no one talks about it, or maybe even thinks about it.
"The great crime and tragedy is that human beings did this to other human beings. It's very convenient to distance ourselves from them as much as we can, because we think we don't behave that way, but we should be less certain than that." (Jonathan Glazer)