Forget Schindler’s List, New Prime Video Chart Climber Shows the Holocaust Horrors Even Better

Summary:

• Schindler’s List, being the most recognized movie about the Holocaust, now faces the new contender, exploring the same topic from a different angle.
• The current Prime’s top tier movie, following the true story of the Auschwitz commandant’s family, showcases their life near the concentration camp.
• It gained much public and critical recognition, including an Oscar award.

Back in 1993, the whole world was shocked to see Steven Spielberg ’s black-and-white historical masterpiece, following the heroic story of Oskar Schindler. This German industrialist saved more than a thousand Polish–Jewish refugees from the Holocaust by employing them in his factories, which was artfully depicted in Schindler's List.

Since then there have been numerous attempts to portray the bloody times of Nazi terror, including the highly acclaimed Life Is Beautiful (1997), The Pianist (2003) and The Book Thief (2013).

However, the 2023 drama which is now blowing up Prime Video ’s Global Chart, taking the fourth place in it, stands out among all of them due to its peculiarity.

It features the life of Rudolf Höss, who was the commandant of Auschwitz concentration camp, and his wife Hedwig, who live with their family in a home, located right next to the camp. The family’s carefree daily life, pictured like they’re on a permanent vacation, is strictly juxtaposed with the tragic events happening inside the walls of the camp.

The straight-forward depiction of the Holocaust was here subjected to in the background, only suggesting Jews’ plights through sound, visual cues and dialogues, while the foreground focuses on the horrifying happiness of the Nazi life.

Such a bold director’s decision to show the evil nature of the genocide, featuring it from the side of its beneficiaries, gained much critical acclaim.

Even the Schindler's List director marked the wholesomeness of the given movie in a recent THR interview.

“[It] is the best Holocaust movie I've [Spielberg’s] witnessed since my own. It’s doing a lot of good work in raising awareness, especially about the banality of evil,” he confessed.

People, who thoroughly followed the Oscar race, have already guessed that we’re talking about Jonathan Glazer’s art-house drama, titled The Zone of Interest. It has gained not only the Academy Award in a Best International Feature category, but also much viewers and critics’ appreciation, with 93% of critical acclaim on Rotten Tomatoes.

Starring Christian Friedel and Sandra Hüller as Rudolf and Hedwig Höss, the accoladed movie mixes brilliant acting, inventive cinematic code, including narrative ellipses and long uninterrupted takes, with its socially and historically important message.

Stream this masterpiece to learn about the nation’s tragedy, shown from the villians’ perspective, as The Zone of Interest is now available for watching on Prime.

Source: A24