The Zone of Interest

 2024 Oscar Awards

Best International Film Feature (UK) Winner
Best Sound Winner

This movie is loosely based on the late British author Martin Amis's book that focuses on Rudolf Hoss, the extremely driven commandant of the Auschwitz concentration camp in Austria. "The Zone of Interest" refers to the area surrounding the death camp. 

English Director Jonathan Glazer filmed near the actual camp in Auschwitz  which is now a memorial museum. He also built a replica of the Hoss's residence. Dialogue is in German, with certain compelling and powerful scenes shot in night vision juxtaposed within the movie that was presented in vivid shots against a drab, gloomy background. Glazer did an excellent job by seamlessly blending scenes of a happy family with sounds of destruction and mayhem from the camp. No wonder, it won the Oscar award for Best in Sound. 

The film centers on the family life of the Nazi commander in a modest house with lush gardens and swimming pool just a few meters away from the site where millions of Jews were killed in gas chambers. We see him, his wife Hedwig and their 5 children living in pure oblivion of the horrors behind the perimeter fence. A normal, almost clinical existence with full household help at their beck and call yet we don't get any sense of extravagance. They were quite ordinary during an extraordinary period in history.

We are not shown any gruesome scenes of the atrocities committed against the Jewish people but long angle shots will reveal the smoke billowing from the chimneys in the camp. At some point, it seemed like it was snowing but actually it was from the ashes of the prisoners. Eerie sounds of gunfires, of people screaming, dogs barking echoes in the background during a family dinner. We have the ladies of the household trying on clothes which were evidently taken from the female prisoners. Mrs Hoss (Sandra Huller) even boasted that she found a diamond hidden in a toothpaste so she instructed the help to buy all the toothpaste they could find. 

Beyond all that, we can be forgiven to think of them as any ordinary German family living in a small town with their own dreams and aspirations, just like the rest of us. But we must never ever forget what the Nazis did to the Jewish people. Because to deny, or even forget it ever happened would be a greater crime to human kind. 

Kudos for winning two Oscar awards, Best Sound and Best International Film Feature (UK).

Past Lives

 2024 Oscar Awards

Best Picture Nominee
Celine Song: Best Original Screenplay Nominee

In this semi autobiographical film, written and directed by Celine Song, a Korean Canadian film maker, Nora (Greta Lee) or Na Young as she was known in South Korea and Hae Sung (Teo Yoo) are classmates in a school in Seoul. They were pretty close and would probably have ended up married to each other but destiny had other plans. At age 12, Nora's entire family migrate to Canada. When her mother was asked why they were leaving Seoul despite having good jobs. She tells Hae Sung's mother "If you leave something, you gain something too".

12 years past by, Nora is studying to be a playwright. She sees a comment on her father's FB page from Hae Sung who was wondering where he could contact his former classmate. They begin communicating through video calls. Despite the time difference, their line of communication is constant. She lives in New York now while he is still in Seoul. Sort of a LDR, (long distance relationship) but not really romantic, there is no label for their situationship (is that what they call it now?) given that they are continents apart. 

You see Nora is a very driven young woman. When she was young in Seoul, she said she was leaving because no one in Korea wins the Nobel Peace Prize. She is focused on getting things done. She decided to end the line of communication with Hae Sung because obviously life takes precedence over anything else. She is going on a writer's retreat while he is busy with his engineering studies. They don't have the luxury of just hopping on a plane to see each other either in Seoul or New York.

12 more years pass by, Nora is now married to Arthur, a Jewish novelist. Hae Sung emails her to say he is finally visiting New York for a short vacation. This stirs up a lot of mixed emotions for Nora but keeps a calm and collected exterior. While Hae Sung is clearly still in love with Nora, he is mature enough to know his limitations, somehow needs closure, a proper good bye, so to speak.

When they finally meet up, it is a bit awkward for the both of them. The pivotal scene at the bar (with her husband Arthur as the third wheel), Hae Sung asks a lot of "what if" questions. He ponders out loud to Nora all the different scenarios that could or could not have happened. Her simple answer is "I don't know". By the way, Nora and Hae Sung speak in Korean to each other while she would sometimes translate it into English for Arthur.

Nora is not a slave to her past, her frame of mind is now focused on the present. She tell Hae Sung that his memory of her as a 12 year old girl is someone she left in Seoul. He concedes and accepts by telling her that she was too big for Seoul. She had lofty ideas, far reaching goals. I totally agree with Nora because who we were when we were 12 years old with pigtails is a totally different person from who we become at 24, 36 or even 48 years of age. 

In the same aspect, "Past Lives" will hit differently for the viewers. It depends on how old you are, on your level of maturity, on your concept of fate and destiny, on your past, present and future journey in life. That is the beauty of this film, it will definitely make an impact whether you are a fresh graduate, a new mom or an empty nester. It will simply linger on, linger more and keep lingering.

Anatomy of a Fall

 2024 Oscar Awards

Best Picture Nominee
Sandra Hüller: Best Actress Nominee

Sandra, a German writer lives in a wooden chalet in the French Alps with Samuel, her French husband and their visually impaired 11 year old son Daniel. After an interview in their home is cut short because of Samuel's ruckus band practice, Sandra retreats to her room. Daniel comes back from his daily walk with his service dog, Snoop to discover the lifeless body of Samuel in the snow near the facade of their chalet. 

Did Samuel fall, commit suicide or was he pushed from the attic of the chalet?

As it is the norm in questionable deaths, the wife is always the prime suspect. Sandra claims she is innocent, and hires a lawyer to defend her as a murder trial begins to determine the exact cause of Samuel's fatal fall.

During the trial, the frosty cracks in their marriage are brought to the surface. Issues of sacrifices, infidelity, isolation, insecurities in their career and personal life, guilt feelings, regrets - all crop up like mushrooms. Their constant bickering, sometimes even violent arguments are presented during the trial through flash backs and taped audio recordings played in the court room. No stones are left unturned by the prosecution who are out to prove that Sandra did 'kill' her insecure husband. Innocent pawn in the whole mess is their only son, Daniel who just might provide the missing link in the murder case. 

Dialogue is mostly in French and some are in English. Sandra speaks in English as a compromise because she feels like a fish out of water in that secluded chalet in some remote town. Filmed in a drab court room, deviod of any fanfare, interspersed with scenic images of the vast snowy terrain, Anatomy of a Fall manages to capture our attention because we are intrigued by Sandra's fate. 

Even though, the verdict is not really a big surprise. We can't help but wonder: Did she or did she not murder her husband? As expected from a European movie, the conclusion is open ended. We are not fed with the truth and we are left to form our own opinions.

Sandra Hüller's portrayal of the novelist's stoic and calm demeanor is engaging. Good performance too from the young actor who plays Daniel. Even though the plot moves at a snail pace, and the setting is limited within the confines of the small court house, this film serves as a good analysis on the complexities of a marriage and its implications on the family.