A World War 2 movie with a 93% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes has been named the best film of the decade so far. The century’s greatest military conflict had barely begun before Hollywood started making films about it, some of them propagantistic in nature, others more interested in real human drama.

Acclaim was heaped upon some of these movies right away, as in the cases of Casablanca and The Best Years Of Our Lives. But the war would continue to fascinate moviemakers and their audiences long after the last shot was fired, as evidenced by Steven Spielberg’s pair of all-time-great war epics, Schindler’s List and Saving Private Ryan.

The immensity of World War 2 as a historical event indeed guarantees the film world’s ongoing interest. In recent years, the torch has been carried by movies like Blitz, Greyhound, Operation Mincemeat and, of course, 2023’s blockbuster Oscar-winner Oppenheimer.

Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer biopic may have won Best Picture at the Oscars, but the best film of the decade so far, at least according to one new poll, is . Directed by Jonathan Glazer, the movie stands at 93% on Rotten Tomatoes, and won its own Oscar for Best International Feature.

The New York Times’ new list of the best films of the 2000s is predictably weighted toward titles released in the century’s first two decades, but The Zone of Interest did make it into the rundown at #12, the highest finish for a movie from the 2020s.

Nolan’s blockbuster biopic may have beaten out Glazer’s art-house drama on Oscar night, but two years on, The Zone of Interest is seen as the better film, at least according to those who voted in the New York Times’ poll. Oppenheimer did make the list, landing at #65, far behind the #12 finish posted by Glazer’s movie.

It’s yet to be seen if either Oppenheimer or Zone of Interest will be enshrined alongside the likes of Casablanca, From Here To Eternity, Schindler’s List and Saving Private Ryan as an all-time classic World War 2 movie. But, at least for now, the latter seems headed swiftly in that direction, while Oppenheimer’s critical reputation may already be waning somewhat.

There is little doubt Zone of Interest belongs in the conversation for best movie of the decade so far, if not the century. Glazer’s haunting look at the Holocaust is among the most powerful dramas of the past 25 years, its 93% RT fresh rating serving as evidence of its acclaim.

and Oppenheimer being rated so highly in the esteem of critics is just more proof that World War 2 remains fruitful ground for cinematic storytellers looking to depict human tragedy and triumph.

Source: New York Times