The Grey Zone
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The Grey Zone is a film directed by Tim Blake Nelson in 2001 and stars David Arquette, Steve Buscemi, Harvey Keitel, Mira Sorvino and Daniel Benzali. It is based on the book; Auschwitz: A Doctor's Eyewitness Account written by Dr. Miklos Nyiszli, published in 1993 by Arcade Publishing (ISBN 1-55970-202-8). The title comes from the title of an essay by Auschwitz survivor Primo Levi. The film tells the story of the Twelfth Sonderkommando in the Auschwitz concentration camp in October 1944. These men were made to assist the Germans in shepherding their victims to the gas chambers and disposal of the bodies in ovens.
With the end of the war in sight (the Russians would liberate Auschwitz within a year), the men of the 12th Sonderkommando are planning an uprising. In the midst of all this they discover a young Jewish girl who is barely alive under a pile of bodies after the group she arrived with has been gassed. With the help of Dr. Nyiszli, the girl is revived and the men vow to save her. The film raises many questions about the lengths one may go to in order to stay alive whilst your fellow countrymen are brutally murdered as well as starkly portraying the realities of life in Auschwitz in late 1944.
The film was based upon Tim Blake Nelson's own play adapted from Nyiszli's book. Some critics have found that the dialogue has a stilted tone.
Additionally, a 90% scale "model" of the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp was built near Sofia, Bulgaria for the production of the film using the original architectural plans.
Considering the stars in the line up and the nature of the subject it is surprising that the film was not released in the UK on DVD or Video. This is probably due to some of the content not being suitable by the standards of the British Board of Film Classification. Released on DVD on March 18, 2003, it is available outside of the UK on Region 1 DVD and also on Region 2 DVD but the chances are the cover will be in the language of the country where it is sold.
Almost everything in this movie is accurate, except for the manner of the ending and that the story of the girl is an amalgamation of two different, similar stories.
