The Grey Zone Movie Review:


From the gut-wrenching human power of Schindler's List (1993) to the lovable comedic charm of Life is Beautiful (1997), there have been many great historical films about the Holocaust period in the 1940s. Now comes an along a true, but untold (in film anyway) Holocaust story of the Auschwitz's 12th Sonderkommando unit.

Tim Blake Nelson's The Grey Zone centers around the Sonderkommandos, who are a group of Jewish prisoners that actually lead a revolt against the German Nazis to attempt to destroy a few of their crematories. The unit is comprised of Jews that are ordered by the Nazis to lead in other Jewish prisoners into the gas showers and to them assist in the total extermination of their bodies. In exchange, the Sonderkommandos get four extra months to live and special privileges, such as cigarettes and whiskey. The film is some what told through the historical character of Dr. Milkos Nyiszli (Corduner), who was a assistant to the grotesque medical experiments ordered by the Nazis in exchange for his life and the lives of his family. The first half of the film sets up the plan by the Sonderkommando unit for the rebellion, which includes the Polish Jews and the Jewish women as well. The men feel that the rebellion will give some redemption to their lives for assisting in the killings of their own kind. However, when the men find a 14-year-old girl that somehow survived the gas chamber, a renewed since of hope of survival is created among them.

Writer-Director Tim Blake Nelson does a strong job of directing this story, which is based off his own stage play and the memoirs of Dr. Milkos Nyiszli. Nelson questions the audience as to what extremes would one go to save their own life or even delays their death? Would you be a Sonderkommando? The script is balanced with the three levels of the concentration camp. There are the Hungarian men Sonderkommandos, who are trying to put together the rebellion, there are the women involved that are hiding gun powder, and then there is Dr. Nyiszli, who is constantly being hounded by the Nazi General (Keitel) to tell him of what he hears of the uprising. The script for the most part is pretty good. There are some moments were fringed dialogue hold its moments from the reflection of the stage play. An example is the characters are cutting each other off in the middle of their lines instead of just interjecting with one another. I have read that only the doctor, the Nazi General Muhsfeldt and the 14-year-old girl are based on historical characters, and the others are loosely based. The events in The Grey Zone have some added fiction, but the key points are accurate. Nelson's direction is a right in your face to deliver the horrors of the Holocaust. He captures the emotion, confusion, and most of all the mental aspects of the characters very well. Nelson knows what he is doing; the story has really been his from the beginning as his stage play. The only choice that I questioned about his direction is the casting of actors playing Jews with clear American accents. The only characters with accents are the Nazis. There is also a weird crucial scene in the film where the audience realizes that the Jews are actually speaking Hungarian and the German commander can't translate what they are saying, but as audience members we hear everything through clear cut English.

The Grey Zone also has a concrete acting cast. The most of the time nutty David Arquette does some good emotional work with his role as the Sonderkommando Hoffman. Daniel Benzali, David Chander, and Steve Buscemi play his rebellious counterparts and all are very effective. Mira Sorvino delivers her best work in a while as a voice in the woman's side of the rebellion. There are some really great emotional moments with Sorvino, which are honestly hard to watch. Allan Corduner is also very admirable in his role as the historical character of Dr. Nyiszil. Last but not least, Harvey Keitel musters up an on/off German accent, but delivers a performance of disturbance as the evil head Nazi General of the camp.

The Grey Zone is a film about a part of the Holocaust that I didn't know about. It has some minor flaws, like with the language translations, but overall it is a noteworthy film. The overall impact of the film is devastating and scary, in which are only two minor words to sum of what happened in the Holocaust.

Report Card Grade: B

10/15/02
Copyright

Joseph Tucker

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