EXCLUSIVE
THE ZONE OF INTEREST Jonathan Glazer’s Nazi drama is uniquely horrifying…
The new masterpiece from Jonathan Glazer (Birth, Under the Skin) is largely set in the home of the commandant of Auschwitz, Rudolf Höss (Christian Friedel), and his wife, Hedwig (Sandra Hüller). Living next to the camp, they sip tea and entertain and raise their children as screams and gunshots sound from behind the wall at the end of their manicured garden.
How easy was it to say yes to Jonathan Glazer?
Sandra Hüller: I didn’t really want to have anything to do with this period of violence. It’s difficult when you’re cast in a film from another country and you’re the German actress who plays a fascist woman. It’s boring.
But in this case it felt necessary, and it turned out to be a dream, because of the work, and Jonathan Glazer.
Christian Friedel: I’ve had two offers before to play Adolf Hitler and I’ve been offered roles as other Nazis.
I’ve always said no. But Jonathan’s decision and his approach was so different. It’s great to change the perspective and to give these evil people a human face. That was the challenge. It was two years of my life that I had this character next to me. It was a really dark, intense experience.
The house and garden were rigged with hidden cameras. You could wander and improvise as long as you said a key line or got a point across… SH: There are many things that work really well with this technical set-up because you’re not interrupted. You’re alone in the house. We had really long takes. It’s a good thing to start playing with each other instead of just opening the door and saying the sentence and closing the door again.
