Oscars rewind: 5 reasons why ‘The Zone of Interest’ won Best Sound
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At the 95th Academy Awards (honoring the cinematic achievements of 2022), there were two notable surprises in the technical categories. The first occurred when “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” nabbed the Oscar for Best Costume Design, beating out the the heavily favored “Elvis” as well as “Babylon.” The second occurred when “All Quiet on the Western Front” claimed the prize for Best Production Design, defeating Gold Derby odds leader “Babylon” in addition to both “Elvis” and “Avatar: The Way of Water.” Anyone who predicted either of those two upsets outsmarted the vast majority of Gold Derby users.
At last month’s 96th Academy Awards, we didn’t see any similar out-of-left-field choices in any of the tech categories. The closest thing to a curveball was arguably “The Zone of Interest” winning the Oscar for Best Sound, overcoming the night’s eventual Best Picture champion, “Oppenheimer.” So how did “Zone” do it? Here are five reasons why.
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1. The sound design was uniquely masterful and integral to the film.
“The Zone of Interest” focuses on the family of a Nazi commandant living near the Auschwitz concentration camp during World War II. While the camp is never seen in the film, its presence is made clear by the skillful and precise use of sound. The gunfire. The barking dogs. The screams, the cries. And the churning of the crematorium. The noises are rather faint. They hint at the atrocities that are being committed, but those horrors are never actually displayed. The viewer can hear the sounds, and is left to imagine the very worst. The artistry is nothing short of chilling, and its impact absolutely haunting. Academy members realized how important the sound design was to “The Zone of Interest,” and decided that it was worthy of recognition.
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2. “Oppenheimer” didn’t quite sweep the way that some people had anticipated.
I’ll concede that I was one of those people. The film scored 13 nominations, just one shy of the all-time record held by 1950’s “All About Eve,” 1997’s “Titanic” and 2016’s “La La Land.” “Oppenheimer” steamrolled through the awards season, collecting all of the major pre-Oscar accolades. The Golden Globe for Best Drama Film. The Critics Choice Award. The BAFTA. The SAG. And the PGA. By the time the Oscars came around, the only question was how big it would win. While it did pick up seven awards, it failed to take Adapted Screenplay away from “American Fiction.” And it was unable to get past “Poor Things” in the Costume and Production Design contests. So Sound was just one more area where “Oppenheimer” was vulnerable to a strong challenger. And “The Zone of Interest” was definitely such a challenger.
3. “The Zone of Interest” was fresh in voters’ minds.
“Oppenheimer” opened in movie theaters in July, and I suspect that most voters saw it soon after its release. Meanwhile, regular screenings for “The Zone of Interest” didn’t commence until the fall. It debuted in cinemas in December, and many academy members didn’t see it until after the new year. With the sound being so critical to the picture, voters were still thinking of that as they filled out their ballots. (There’s no denying that the use of sound was similarly exceptional in “Oppenheimer.” It’s just that some of the impact had worn off by the time that Oscar voting had begun.)
4. “The Zone of Interest” was a serious Best Picture contender.
True, it was never going to topple “Oppenheimer.” Still, it was a widely praised film that also reaped bids for Best Director (Jonathan Glazer), Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Sound and Best International Feature. It handily won that last category. It’s conceivable that “The Zone of Interest” finished third or fourth in the Best Picture tabulation, ahead of high profile entries like “Barbie” and “Killers of the Flower Moon.” Overall support for “Zone” made voters keen to reward it in at least one other place apart from International Feature. Having missed in the races for Cinematography, Film Editing, Production Design and Score, Best Sound was the only other logical place for “The Zone of Interest” to score.
5. It received a big boost at BAFTA.
To start, “The Zone of Interest” was gifted with an impressive nine BAFTA nominations. It succeeded in three of those: Best British Film, Film Not in the English Language and Best Sound. Had it not faced stiff competition from other serious tech-heavy pictures like “Oppenheimer” and “Poor Things,” it might have had a chance in areas such as Cinematography, Editing, Production Design and Score. Nonetheless, the healthy BAFTA showing by “Zone” just ahead of Oscar voting provided it with some much-needed momentum. And that was just what “Interest”needed to pull off a well deserved victory for the Academy Award for Best Achievement in Sound.
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