THE GREY ZONE is a small masterpiece and it is a shame that it didn't get the range it deserved. The reasons why I didn't vote 10/10 are because many story lines - mostly about the different groups of inmates in Auschwitz -, each of which deserves to be told elaborately are not being shown or are told too quickly in the beginning and then lost.
The other reason is the fact that the film is so tragic and realistic that it leaves you with a feeling of helplessness and anger. Understandable considering the subject but still makes it hard to recommend it.
But THE GREY ZONE is brilliant. It tells a story that needed to be told, facts that most people have hopefully heard of (inmates that are forced to help in the Holocaust extermination). But with a consistency I've rarely seen. All those images from SCHINDLERS LIST and THE PIANIST come to mind but this movie goes further and still never, not in one single image, it shows cruelty with sensationalism. The movie jumps from pictures of inmates sitting on lounge chairs in the field to the crematory where corpses are piled ready to be burned one by one. And the film manages to show so many different levels of bestiality and humanity I can't believe viewers are left untouched.
All that is provided by a great cast led by David Arquette (I knew he was cool) and a never disappointing Harvey Keitel. In the end the question remains: What would each one of us do in order to survive one more day. A very unpleasant feeling...
The other reason is the fact that the film is so tragic and realistic that it leaves you with a feeling of helplessness and anger. Understandable considering the subject but still makes it hard to recommend it.
But THE GREY ZONE is brilliant. It tells a story that needed to be told, facts that most people have hopefully heard of (inmates that are forced to help in the Holocaust extermination). But with a consistency I've rarely seen. All those images from SCHINDLERS LIST and THE PIANIST come to mind but this movie goes further and still never, not in one single image, it shows cruelty with sensationalism. The movie jumps from pictures of inmates sitting on lounge chairs in the field to the crematory where corpses are piled ready to be burned one by one. And the film manages to show so many different levels of bestiality and humanity I can't believe viewers are left untouched.
All that is provided by a great cast led by David Arquette (I knew he was cool) and a never disappointing Harvey Keitel. In the end the question remains: What would each one of us do in order to survive one more day. A very unpleasant feeling...