Rating: 
Summary: Interesting story that could have been better
Review: First off the story of "The Grey Zone" is interesting and the film is watchable. It is about the story of Sonderkommandos - a group of jews who do the "dirty work" in the concentration camps that are beneath the nazis in exchange for special privileges. However, this would have been a better movie in the hands more capable director.What made "Schindler's List" and "The Pianist" so effective is that the violence was arbitrary, coldly casual and was over before you had a chance to really register what happened. Also there was always a ray of hope to counter-balance the atrocities making the audience care and fear that much more for the characters in those films.
Here the director pans over piles of dead bodies far too long, shows prisoners shovelling their deceased loved ones in furnaces in slow-motion with stoic expressions, and shoves the camera in the faces characters who clearly hate themselves. You can almost here Colonel Kurtz in "Apocalypse Now" saying "The horror....the horror." This is the first movie on the holocaust where I felt the violence was sensationalized. Almost completley removing the human element. From the very beginning there is a tone of bleakness
and despair. With the exception of an awkwardly cast Harvey Kietel the acting is very strong and the ensemble is top notch. But when the characters are so full of self loathing, why should we care about them? All of the actors do it very well, but that is all they do and it keeps the film flat and in a monotone. There is no balance and ultimately you wind up waiting for the inevitable. The film pontificates for close to two hours and you wind up asking yourself to what end? Yes, the holocaust was shocking and horrific. Yes, the nazis were terrible. The film is well acted, the approach is unique and far few and in-between there are some genuine moments. However you come away disturbed and shocked as you would watching "Natural Born Killers." Far from enlightening.
Rating: 
Summary: An indictment of Nazi national policy
Review: I saw this film in Toronto, Ontario and have read the book "Auschwitz", by Miklos Nyiszli several times. If one had not ever read the book or studied the Holocaust this movie would be bad cinema at best. From the introduction to the ending trailer I was riveted to my seat. With one or two exceptions the movie follows the book, which in part is the story of Miklos Nyiszli, a Hungarian pathologist sent to Auschwitz where he believes he will work in a hospital. Instead, he becomes the "willing" assistant of Josef Mengele, the chief Doctor of the death camp. The movie correctly centers around a plot to blow up the crematoria and thus thwart the nazi's fanatical killing of the Jewish people. The acting is superb, albeit laced with profanities (yet could one expect civility in Auschwitz?). The moral dilemma that Nyiszli faces when confronted with a victim of the gas that didn't die is amazing. This scene stretches out more than the book allowed, yet it showed the depths that men took to save the lot rather than the one. The ending trailer that chronicled the fate of Dr. Myiszli was very impressive to me...I have never found any information as to his whereabouts after the war. I recommend this to any serious student of the Holocaust (but please read the book first).
Rating:
Summary: The Best Film this Year!!
Review: WOW is about the best way to sum up this shockingly horrific tale of the only armed rebellion in Auschwitz during World War II. The film focuses on the selected Jewish prisoners whom volunteered to work in the crematoriums, burning the hundreds of bodies and shoveling away the ash, and would lull the Jews just arriving that they were safe as they escorted them to the gas chambers. In exchange they are given various privileges. But realizing they have only four months to live before they are replaced, these men realizing they are already dead plan to destroy the crematorium, which haunts the souls of every one of them. Tim Blake Nelson directs this film with sheer brilliance and delivers to the audience a film more powerful then "Shindler's List", "The Killing Fields" or "Black Hawk Down". The cast shines in this as well delivering the best performances ever from Mira Sorvino, Harvey Kietel, Steve Busemi and David Arquette (whom full well deserves a nomination for best actor!). The cinematography is haunting but not nearly as much as the make up or art direction that bring to life the true horrors of the concentration camps. The music is stunning and fitting throughout the whole film though most, including myself will be a bit to engage with the film to truly notice it until near the end when it is used in one of the most powerful scenes. The Grey Zone is a highly intense film and is by no means a film that will offer any happiness or even joy to its viewers. Instead it allows us to experience the hopeless of those imprisoned hoping to find some way to find redemption. The violence is exceptionally strong and WILL disturb anyone with a sense of compassion in their body. The film is rated R for strong holocaust violence, language, and nudity. By the ending of this film I found myself shaking from everything that I had seen and even unable to leave immediately from having been so stunned by the ending and all the horrors that transpired. While this offers no sense of hope it does offer the most gripping cinematic experience ever to grace the silver screen. By far the best film made this year or almost any other year.
Rating:
Summary: An amazing recreation of tragic history.
Review: This film tells the true story of the NAZI appointed SonderKommandos who were Jewish prisoners assigned to exterminate other fellow Jews and dispose of their corpses through cremation in exchange for exceptional living qualities and roughly an extra 4 months of life depending on how well they performed their tasks. The Kommandos would convince the Jews that the sooner they showered and became disinfected the sooner they would be reunited with their families, which of course were lies, little did the Jews know that the showers were gas chambers. But through committing these horrible tasks the Kommandos were secretly planning the only revolt ever committed inside the Jewish concentration camps. The Grey Zone has no CGI, no slam bang action sequences, nor does it feature a blaring soundtrack, it simply relies on what good old film consists of; Acting, direction, and cinematography. Everything featured in this film is worthy of the highest praise. The cast provides excellent performances, and the one who surprised me most was David Arquette. I must say I found his performance Oscar worthy and I believe that he is truly talented as he has steered clear of his goofy lovable self and taken on a serious, much controversial role. Tim Blake Nelson provides excellent, realistically disturbing direction that makes it appear as though you are actually there, witnessing the horrible accounts of these ill fated lives. You get this feeling in you that makes you get a feeling of the conditions the Kommandos went through, feeling trapped, knowing death is inevitable, and though however horrible these tasks they performed you still have empathy for the Kommandos and you can actually get a sense of understanding as to why they do what they do to survive, if only for temporary satisfaction. I guess what was best about The Grey Zone is how it accurately portrays human instability in uncertain times. The Grey Zone essentially asks the question of what would we do to keep living, if someone held a gun to your head and said, "You can die now or you can die in 4 months", I think I know the answer that any Human would give, including myself. And when you view what these people went through and how scared they were, I think you'll understand their decisions and given the options it's hard to truthfully criticize these men. But these issues constantly plague the Kommandos, and once you see their spectacular and heroic if not meaningless uprising, it shows that good resides in all of us no matter how grim and inhuman we appear. I particularly enjoyed seeing the Kommandos revolt and up rise, thus redeeming themselves and doing something so noble, as these men knew that once the revolt began they were not going to make it out alive and that this was their last shot at glory. The Grey Zone lacks in no department, it provides the most realistic view of the Holocaust I've seen to date, and though there is no happy ending, I enjoyed it's realistic point of view on life, no matter how grisly. The Grey Zone is only playing at 31 screens across the US but with the rave reviews it's receiving and all the positive criticism, I'm sure it will reach a theater near you and I think that if you must view a film this year than let The Grey Zone fill that movie going need. But be prepared that this film is truthfully painful and is not about great music and CGI effects, as it was produced for only $5 million and it features no score. In fact only 2 scenes feature any musical integration, one of which includes the uprising, which is the most satisfying scene in the film. But The Grey Zone simply relies on the ability of the actor's and the style of old fashion story telling that sadly appears to have become a minority in Hollywood now a days. All in all I would say this is the best film of the year I've seen and I can see Oscar nominations in it's hopefully long future. I highly recommend The Grey Zone, and solid 5 stars out of 5.
Rating: 
Summary: The Grey Zone
Review: Tim Blake Nelson follows up "O" with a harrowing and haunting story about Sonderkomando, Jews who were forced to work in the crematoria of Auschwitz against their fellow Jews in exchange for few extra months of life. Many of the scenes are as disturbing and powerful as those in "Schindler's List," to which it'll undoubtedly draw comparison. However, unlike "Schindler's List" which was more character-driven, "The Grey Zone" focuses more on the events, and you don't reach the same level of emotion as you did with the Spielberg masterpiece. It's also much more unsettling and depressing. In "Schindler's List," we get the impression that the Jews look forward to the day of freedom and strive to survive, but here, they all realize they'll be killed eventually, and there is no sense of hope. It's a grim movie, with many scenes and questions that are tough to swallow.
Rating:
Summary: Reality of the Holocaust
Review: The GREY ZONE, to begin with, is very aptly named. It is aptly named because it deals with a group of prisoners, known as Sondercommandos (Special Squads) whose responsibility it was to strip, gas and cremate prisoners, mostly Jews in the death camp of Auschwitz. They slaved between the thousands of prisoners themselves and the Nazis in charge of the operation of the camp. It is the most graphic depiction of the killing that took place in Birkenau, also known as Auschwitz II, that I have ever seen. The film is based on fact, that is, events that actually took place. The film does an excellent job in depicting the killing process from strippiing the victims of clothes, jewlery, hair, etc., gassing them, and then shoveling them into the ovens that make up the crematorium. The film also recreates one of the most amazing events of the Auschwitz experience: blowing up crematorium #3 by the sondercommandos who received the gunpowder to do so from women working in a munitions plant. This is a very courageous film. For many it will provide quite an education, but you will need a strong stomach. There are references in the film to historical incidents which, if you had not studied the subject, might be confusing or just over your head. Individuals are not always identified clearly. But having said that, this is a film a long time in coming. It should have been produced years ago. It is powerful. And it should be seen by all.
Rating:
Summary: act of life
Review: a powerful performance of a group of actors guided by a talented director to show the real happening in the Nazi era death camp. Hopeless people who had to put their own relatives into the fire gather to save a girl who survived the gas chambers. A stunning performance of Harvey Keitel as Nazi officer. A movie with no softening of the truth close enough to the real facts as told by the survivors.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant film
Review: This film is extremely compelling. The appraoch given in this story is very original.
In the middle of the devasting holocaust, the lives of the main archetypes are shown here.
The collaborators who stand in the camp , will experience a real twist of fate , with an unusual fact in the poisoned gas hall.
All the efforts for keeping this unthinkable and even surprising event , will show the hidden face of the sense of humanity .
Keitel as the Nazi officer is overwhelming, and Mira Sorvino makes a poignant role in her role as a prisioner.
Interesting script that will let you thinking for a long time.
Rating: 
Summary: Bleak
Review: This movie does a good job of portraying the bleakness of this awful place/time. There are a few graphic and disturbing scenes but they are not done for shock value. In fact, there are several places where the filmmakers could have shown much more but used creative camera angles to give the viewer just enough visual information to know that the unseen is horrific. This isn't the most riveting holocaust movie and it could have used actors who looked a little worse than just tired. Rarely did the camp inmates look hollow and emaciated. At times the movie comes across with a feeling of hopelessness and desperation but overall it falls short in its quest to grip the viewer emotionally. My complaints about this film are from purely a technical standpoint... I believe that if this movie helps someone understand and appreciate what the victims of these horrible places went through, then it is good. I don't like the idea of people watching these holocaust shows for entertainment. To become numb to this event by relegating it to the same status as fictional/enjoyment movies is demeaning.
Rating:
Summary: Gritty
Review: The Grey Zone was originally a book that was adapted into a play by Tim Blake Nelson (O, Eye Of God, Kansas) and now, Tim Blake Nelson has adapted his play into a movie that is almost unknown to the public. This film is based on a book called Auschwitz: A Doctor's Eyewitness Account by Miklos Nyiszli. The film deals with one of the darkest times in the human history, Auschwitz, 1944. The story is about Sonderkommandos, a group of Jews forced to work for the Nazi's against their own kind for an exchange of having their life extended for couple of more months. As you can imagine, Sonderkommandos are put in the worst situation possible, but they all refuse to admit that they are helping the Nazi's even though their actions could be considered just as bad as the Nazi's. However, in the time of a war, and especially in this case, a morality does not exist, you do what you can to survive. Sonderkommandos can be considered traitors but also heroes, it all depends on how you look at it. To me, this situation is something I would never be able to handle on a mental level of sanity. I guess this story can be argued, and the argument will for sure have two sides. The pros and non's, like always, in time of a war, there is never really a common ground... sadly.
This film is extremely hard to stomach at certain points. A lifeless corpses piled up on one another, thick black smoke of burning bodies that echoes pure pain and suffering. Gas chambers filled with innocent people being tortured to death, cold-hearted Nazi's shooting people on the spot, an extremely bloody and a painful reminder to the audiences of the evil that has happened in 1994 and an unknown story of twelfth Sonderkommandos who lead the only armed uprising at the death camp. While many have judged these Sonderkommandos as traitors, the writer/director of this film has chosen to defend them.
Out of all the actors in the world I would have never thought David Arquette would be involved in this movie. I will have to say that I have a new found respect for him mainly because I was not aware that he could do well in a dramatic movie such as this one. I guess I am guilty of judging him from his previous movies, but I am glad that he proved to me and anyone else who might have doubted him, that he is capable of much more. The rest of the cast is also memorable but no one comes close to David Arquette. Kudos to Mira Sorvino who almost looks unrecognizable in this film. The acting from the cast is quite recognizable here but due to the fact that the story is so gripping, one often focuses on just the story and not the acting.
If you are looking for an answer to some question in this movie, you will not find it. With a story such as this one, there is no real answer, only a painful reminder.
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