Film
What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases
Bookmark this pageThe Grey Zone (2001)
Director: Tim Blake Nelson
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
An adaptation of director Tim Blake Nelson's own play, The Grey Zone is about the Jewish Sonderkommando at Auschwitz who bought themselves time by conducting their brethren's extermination. The title connotes the shroud of human ash that envelops the camp and the spirit of the inmates, as well as the debased moral 'choice' offered these wretched chosen ones. The film is no exercise in Jewish self-loathing but asks what life is worth when death is so palpably inglorious. It's not exactly a joy to behold (and some will find Keitel's heavily accented Nazi commander hard to take), but the steady, matter of fact verism is utterly effective, making manifest the diffuse industrial process, rather than the caricature of isolated actions, through which modern evil wreaks its will.Author: NB
User reviews of this film
-
- George Marshall said...
- Posted on Dec 01 2008 18:08 I was deeply moved by this film which is the first to convincingly create the real sense of being in the middle of Auschwitz- it is extremely effective. I feel that it by far the best recent film on the Holocaust- far better than Schindlers List. This film, by comparison, has been seriously underrated- possibly because it is so effective and disturbing. No wonder they gave the Oscars to superficial drivel like Life is Beautiful.
- Report as inappropriate
Cast & crew
Director: Tim Blake Nelson
Producer: Pamela Koffler, Christine Vachon, Tim Blake Nelson, Avi Lerner, Danny Lerner
Cast: David Arquette, Allan Corduner, Steve Buscemi, Harvey Keitel, Mira Sorvino, Natasha Lyonne, Daniel Benzali, David Chandler full cast
Duration: 108 mins
Most popular on this site
Top Stories
Has David Cronenberg turned tame?
Has director David Cronenberg veered too far from his radical and bloody roots with new film 'A Dangerous Method'?
The 10 worst date movies
Just in time for Valentine's Day, we present ten of the least romantic films ever made
Where to watch this year's Oscar-nominated films
Find out where to watch 2012's Oscar-nominated films in London cinemas
10 unlikely badboy biopics
Featuring Phil Collins, Jeremy Clarkson, Nick Clegg, David Starkey and a host of other unlikely subjects
Interview: Sean Durkin on 'Martha Marcy May Marlene'
The first-time director of the brilliant new thriller discusses religious cults and robot boxing
Pop-up cinema for Valentine's Day
Side-step romantic clichés with some alternative Valentine’s viewing
What do you think?
Post your review now