“This powerful little film takes us on a quiet journey into the dark side of our humanity. “
Con Nats
4 Apples
Hedwig and Rudolph lead an idyllic life. Their house is near a river, where they take their five children swimming and canoeing. They have a lovely garden with a greenhouse, a gazebo and a small pool that Hedwig (Sandra Hüller) designed, and Rudolph (Christian Friedel) takes his horse to work which is right next door. How cute.
Rudolph is popular with the team, who all come to his house to wish him a happy birthday. He’s doing such a great job, he’s been promoted to oversee other crematoriums as he’s doing a great job running Auschwitz.
Writer-director Johnathan Glazer (Sexy Beast; Under The Skin) takes us through the minutia of the day of this typical family, in this zone of interest: where ordinary people live in the middle of a madness.
He slowly strips back the hypocrisy of their lies and lives with a casual hand. For instance, some packages are delivered to their house and some clothes are shared amongst the Jewish help, while Hedders keeps a fur coat and helps herself to the lipstick she finds in the pocket. Touches of nastiness came out too naturally for you to fall for this family.
Glazer likes to keep the audience unbalanced, from the overly long black screen to open the film to the shrieking music over the credits. But Glazer doesn’t aim to horrify; all the violence is kept off screen and in the distance, and he increases the gunshot sounds and voices gradually.
The picture quality is pristine and so many images are so picturesque, it’s hard not to enjoy them. They’re only spoiled by the ever belching chimney stack in the distance. Glazer used 10 cameras planted around the house and let them run without direction to keep the actors as natural as possible and you can see it in the unscripted moments with the children. And the soundtrack is kept to minimal.
Some sub plots are left to drift. Hedwig’s mother comes to visit and leaves suddenly. A girl goes around planting fruit at night for the prisoners. This film isn’t aiming to use a strong narrative to tell its story; it uses lovely images and scenes to paint its point.
It’s a point that needs to keep being made today, particularly with the rise of the extreme right. It shows how easily ordinary people can slip into a moral vacuum, as long as the lawn is trimmed.
What a standout Sandra Hüller is. She also stars in Anatomy of a Fall, and her physicality and characterisation is so different it took me a while to realise it was her. Friedel is equally as good.
This film has been nominated for five Academy Awards including Best Film, Best Foreign Film and Best Director, and will win the foreign film award. It will be well deserved. Glazer doesn’t make many films but this is his finest.
This powerful little film takes us on a quiet journey into the dark side of our humanity. It’s uncomfortable but the subtle path taken makes it a palatable and potent one.
Con Nats, On The Screen
