The Zone of Interest

The question of how the Holocaust can be represented in feature films has been debated for decades. Yet the focus of the debate has rarely been on the question of the sounds of the horrors of the concentration camps, or on the auditory possibilities that might allow these horrors to be heard. Since 2023, this discourse has had an important new reference point in the form of the soundtrack to Jonathan Glazer’s film THE ZONE OF INTEREST, which dissects the supposedly idyllic life of concentration camp commander Rudolf Höß and his family in the immediate vicinity of the Auschwitz extermination camp in 1943. Sound designer Johnnie Burn and non-binary musician Mica Levi embed the horrors taking place just beyond the garden wall within a nuanced soundscape: recordings of muffled rumblings, gunfire, barking dogs and bellowing guards, as well as sporadically employed music, equal parts sonorous and dissonant, form the bedrock of the film. Mica Levi’s pulverizingly loud choral piece at the end of the film brings a challenging, disturbing soundtrack to a close that provokes thought and discussion. (mg)