This German import is set in and around a house where the father is the commandant of the Auschwitz concentration camp next door. The kids play, mom tends to her garden and the dog roams the yard. These are the kind of everyday activities that serve as banal contrast to the horrors across the wall, which are only depicted by distant sounds. Speaking of distance, director Jonathan Glazer chose to shoot most scenes with up to 10 hidden cameras to capture the action in locked down wide shots. There are no close-ups and only occasional tracking shots. As a result, the objectivity of the situations lends a cold indifference portrayed by the actors. Add to that some disconcertingly horrible music cuts that open and close the film. Glazer has created a boldly original approach that feels experimental at the same time. There’s no plot and no drama because everything is presented in a slightly dull, but quietly disturbing world. (4 / 5)
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