79. THE ZONE OF INTEREST

Lit to Lens

The guys discuss the film THE ZONE OF INTEREST, the Jonathan Glazer adaptation from the Martin Amis novel of the same name. THE ZONE OF INTEREST, the fourteenth novel from British writer Martin Amis, is set among a group of German commanders at an unnamed concentration camp, taken to be Auschwitz. The story traces the fall of the Third Reich from three interweaving perspectives: Angelus Thomsen, an officer at the camp; Paul Doll, his commandant; and Szmul Zacharias, a Jewish death camp prisoner. The stories and characters intersect due to the nature of their work and Thomsen’s attempts to attract Paul’s wife, Hannah. Themes of the power of memory, survivors guilt, navigating right and wrong, and society building feature prominently. The novel was shortlisted for the Walker Scott Prize in 2015. … The film adaptation was written and directed by Jonathan Glazer and stars Christian Friedl and Sandra Hüller. It made its premier on May 19, 2023 at the Cannes Film Festival where it won the Grand Prix and the FIPRESCI Prize. It was released in the US on December 15, 2023 and has been nominated for five Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best International; Feature Film and Best Sound. … Topics of discussion include the stripping of the book’s characters and narrative structure, the film’s refocusing of the story on banality of evil and its emphasis on sound, what the Cosmic Ice Theory is all about, and whether or not we need anymore movies about the Holocaust. … Listen to the episode to find out how the series stacks up to the book. … (0:00) From the book… (1:00) Fast facts, recap, trivia… (12:09) A word from our sponsor… (12:47) Studio pitch & novel breakdown… (34:08) Trailer (35:24) Learn you something, differences from the book… … If you would like to get in contact with us about anything regarding the show, feel free to shoot us an e-mail: [e-mail] … Or reach out on social media: twitter.com/littolens instagram.com/littolens