GRAY AREAS

"The Zone of Interest" and "Anselm."

- ANTHONY LANE

Life is good, on a fine day, by a glittering lake. A family picnic on the grass, a merry swim, and the comforting of a crying baby. Such is the opening scene of "The Zone of Interest,” a new film from Jonathan Glazer. The family is that of Rudolf Héss Christian Friedel), his wife, Hedwig Sandra Hiller), and their five children. Later, as darkness gathers, they drive back home to their orderly house, beside the walls of Auschwitz.

Hoss is not a fictional invention. He was the commandant at Auschwitz from 1940 to 1943, and returned there in May, 1944, on the orders of Heinrich Himmler, specifically to oversee the extermination of Hungarian Jews. Their arrival in unprecedented numbers—up to twelve thousand a day—was a logistical challenge to which S.S. Obersturmbannfiihrer Hoss was trusted to rise. Train lines were extended so that they ran right up to two of the crematoriums. The entire operation even bore his name: Aktion Hoss. A rare honor.

Of the killings that were meted out under the aegis of Hoss, "The Zone of Interest” shows none. Much of the story is set in the house where he and his loved ones dwell, with its pretty garden, rich in blooms. There are trips to the surrounding countryside, although, in one unfortunate incident, Héss is obliged to chivy his offspring out of a river, where they are paddling, because human remains have washed downstream. Another inconvenience: the daily routine of the Hoss household is punctuated by yelps and cries, the chug of trains, the firing of weapons, and a low but discernible roar, as if some beast—a fire-breathing dragon—had its lair beyond the garden wall. What lies out of sight need not be out of earshot. Either way, you might think, it cannot be out of mind.