"Privilege Paradise": An attempt to entertain

( Original article published in the film Xinhuo )

Text | Yan Shangmin

The Hollywood film industry is all about efficiency, and the Hong Kong film industry used to be the same. Whether a movie is worthy of development, investment, filming and release often depends on how the creator explains his concept. However, Hollywood producers can make millions every second, and sometimes sitting in the office with your eyes closed and listening to your presentation is too time-consuming. So, for the sake of efficiency, they came to a conclusion - if the producer can't find the interest in a few sentences of logline, your story won't go very far. It's called elevator pitch. Time for one lift: If yes, stay low and continue; if no, please go early next time. If you have read Robert Altman's classic "The Player", you will probably understand the mystery of elevator sales.

If I had to write a few lines for The Zone of Interest to sell an elevator, would this be what it would look like? A capable high-level middleman in the government worked hard for his family. He was recently promoted and had a salary increase, but due to a transfer, the family was at odds. At this point, investors are a little confused, what is so attractive about the characters in the story? So, the creator came up with his trump card - the protagonist of the story is a senior executive responsible for supervising the extermination plan of the Jewish concentration camp, but for him, this is just work, and his most important thing is his family. Ding, the elevator door opens and we're back in the office. As a producer, will you invest in this film?

If you analyze the story of "Privilege" using elements such as typical Hollywood three-act drama principles, entertainment index, whether the characters can make the audience invest, etc., the score may not be qualified, right? But as I continue to watch this work, I feel like I'm on pins and needles, and that uneasiness lingers for a long time even after it ends. Let alone artistic achievement, even from a commercial perspective, this work is a very "complete" thriller.

The director's cleverness is to use serious themes to package entertainment. His execution is so remarkable that as far as the finished product is concerned, it may be the best among European films of the past year. Starring Sandra Hüller must have been lucky. With the addition of "Anatomy of a Fall" (Anatomy of a Fall) , this film has established her position in the European film industry. In fact, in addition to her, the leading actor Christian Friedel performed very well as the Nazi high-ranking Rudolf Höss, their children, their grandmother, the Jewish workers at home and even a dog (Sandra Hüller's pet in real life). This may have something to do with the photography strategy conceived by the director and cinematographer - they installed cameras in every corner of the home, almost to the point of pervasiveness. The author speculates that when there are so many cameras that they become part of the scene, the actors may no longer care. In addition, without lighting during the whole process, they can be more immersed and perform more naturally, right? The photographer emphasized that his lens should have a sharp effect like a forensic anatomy. The compact camera allows the audience to read the actor's (external) performance from a close distance.

But the most profound part of "Privileged Paradise" must be the scenes in the back garden. However, if it were just these few scenes without the foreshadowing, it might not be effective. For example, at the beginning of the movie, the designers and engineers of the incinerator, the ultimate plan for genocide, were arranged to meet with Höss to discuss coldly how to "deal with" the Jews like hoarding goods. Then we use sound design in different situations to remind the audience that "they" are being (disappeared). For example, in one scene, Höss is puffing smoke in the foreground, with light smoke floating in the background in shallow focus, but the background sound is similar to that of a prisoner. A cry of despair. We have never seen the gas chamber itself from beginning to end, but we are reminded of those "absences" through ambient sounds and visual motifs - bursts of thick or thin gray smoke. So in the scene in the garden, when there is a family gathering and children playing in the water in the foreground, but in the background we see a shabby house and smoke coming from a chimney in the distance, and the camera slowly pans horizontally, lengthening the suspense, it is even more shocking. . The film's use of voiceover design is unique.

So it’s no surprise that the comments are overwhelmingly positive. Because on a technical level, it's close to a perfect score. But if the auteur theory is still valid, after watching the entire film, one must ask, what does the author want to bring out by restoring the notorious character of Höss? Is it to show the complexity of human nature from different angles? For example, Höss loves his wife very much, but when faced with pressure, he still pursues Jewish girls? Although he has to manage a human slaughterhouse, he still has a deep love for his horse? Do the several passages filmed using negative film techniques symbolize the sadness of hope, or are their words just not surprising? Perhaps because of the seriousness of the subject matter, it is natural for people to label "Privileged Paradise" as an art film. But what is horrifying when you think about it carefully is that, just like the operation of concentration camp gas chambers and the "step-by-step" Major Scale of movie soundtracks, "Privilege" and Hollywood movies actually have the same approach and are very "efficient" and " Entertainment" to the author.

Entertainment does not necessarily mean laughing until you have a mouthful of 40,000 yuan or crying and wetting several packs of tissues. Creating shock and horror, or intellectual satisfaction ("I am so profound, watching such heavy historical art films") can also be regarded as a kind of entertainment. When it comes to pornographic history, Jonathan Glazer may not be as ambitious and magnanimous as Tarantino. After a screening in the United States, the audience asked the director a question worth chewing on: How do you think survivors of the Jewish concentration camps or the descendants of the victims would feel if this film was shown to them? Do you think they will be the audience for your film?

movie fire website
Movie Fire Instagram
Movie Fire Facebook