The Grey Zone
|
List Price: Our Price: $7.33 You Save: $7.65 (51%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $3.46 (click here) Category: DVD See more DVD releases |
|---|
Canada
Movie Reviews of The Grey Zone
Movie Review: gut-wrenching, heartfelt...
Summary: 4 Stars
The women in this astounding film are incredible; Mira Sorvino, in particular--who turns in another Oscar-caliber performance. What I can't get over is the fact I had no idea she was even in it. The entire time I was watching this tremendous re-enactment I kept thinking (whenever her character was on screen) who is this woman? Where did they find her? I simply could not connect her to the wonderful, scene-stealing job she did in Mighty Aphrodity; the actress is that good here.
I do my best to keep from writing lengthy reviews (very often skip over them as well when wanting to find out about a film am interested in, etc.) so I won't go into the plot and what happens. Will only say that, although I always look foreward to seeing Harvey Keitel on screen, I only wish that he had refrained from going with a German accent. Not many American actors can do a foreign accent and do it well, not even Meryl Streep--and I don't care what some people might say about that. Accents never sound right. They should have just hired a German actor to play the part, etc.
All in all, kudos to the folks for making the film. It just might leave you choking back a sob or two. Strong stuff. Am currently reading Eyewitness Auschwitz by Filip Muller (and I have read others on the subject.) This film struck me as pretty authentic--and am glad it was made.
Thank you to one and all for all the hard work that made this unforgetable motion picture possible..
Movie Review: Almost
Summary: 4 Stars
This is an almost impossible topic to do well; Nelson and company came very close. There are a few historical errors, and the relationship between SS and prisoners - with the exception of the people like Nyszli - was rarely as "conversational" as the film suggests. The hierarachy within the sonderkommando itself is also missing, which was a key part of what they had to contend with. Typically, SS spoke directly (in the form of giving orders) to non-Jewish kapos; not to the class of prisoners who figure centrally in the film. Likewise, the frenetic pace of the work when there was a transport to be "disposed of" was not shown here. I assume this was in the interest of everything being "matter of fact," which _is_ generally true to the sonderkommando's everday adaptation to their task.
I found the mix of accents confusing - why did only the Germans get them? And some of the interaction around planning the rebellion needed a bit more context, I think.
That said, there is more here that is _essentially_ true than in most Holocaust films. The grayness of the film itself fit its subject. When the "ash speaks" at the end, in the form of the incinerated girl, I was initially put off. Why this flight of poetry in the midst of such an unpoetic film. But it was short and on point enough to add at least something.
Movie Review: Not the "feel good movie of the year"
Summary: 4 Stars
I watched The Grey Zone yesterday and am still feeling quite disturbed.First things first, Steve Buscemi is one of my favorite actors but I'm not sure he quite fit in in The Grey Zone. I also like Harvey Keitel but was not really feeling him in his role. I am assuming we are all supposed to pretend the actors were Jewish or Hungarian or German, etc. Then why is it some characters were given accents and others weren't? And like everyone else who has reviewed the movie, I feel the "F" word was way over used. It definitely took away from the overall authenticity of the time period in which the movie took place. It seemed almost as if the characters were hanging out on the corner somewhere in NYC, arguing over a bad card game.
Aside from the above, The Grey Zone succeeded in freaking me out beyond belief. The live people going in to the gas chambers only to come out dead, shoveled into the fire and dumped into the river are images that will be with me for a while. The scene in which they painted the gas chamber walls had the most impact on me. Imagine them painting over the mess the people left behind as they were gassed to death? The musical score was quite perfect. Sad, dark, bleak.
The story was interesting and the acting was decent enough. Do not not watch this is you're not ready to be disturbed for at least the rest of the day (or night).
Movie Review: Horrifying, but not gory
Summary: 4 Stars
I just want to add a comment to some of the reviews posted here. I'm worried that descriptions of this film as `graphic,' `gory,' or `a horror fest' will leave readers with the impression that this is a blood-soaked `Ilsa' movie. This is not the case at all. This film leaves one dumbstruck with horror, but only because of the knowledge that human beings actually lived through the sooty, grey, dreadful existence dramatized here. The characters in this film live with death of friends and with the looming inevitability of their own ends, and this mood - not anything visual - is what will stain a viewer's soul.Yes, there are occasional scenes of dead bodies, usually being stacked and moved by the sonderkommando, but it is not a bloody, gratuitous use of this imagery. In fact, it is handled about as tastefully as it can possibly be, given the subject matter.
What is hypnotic about this film is witnessing the awful things that men will do to live another day, and yet in the middle of all of this, how they redeem their souls by refusing to commit one more horrible act. Why is this one task any more awful than all the others? Why do `this' and not `that'? I doubt even these poor people could have answered, but a time comes when men must say, `Enough. Not this. No more. It has to stop here.'
If only their captors had had the strength to come to this conclusion.
Movie Review: Great movie, Bad DVD oversight
Summary: 4 Stars
This is indeed a great movie (5 stars) for many reasons. I won't repeat those reasons since there are ample reviews already posted.The only problem is with the DVD, hence my 4-star rating. I first rented this movie on DVD and noticed there was no Cast/Crew commentary as advertised on the back of the case. This is not really a complaint, but it is worth mentioning. It is obviously an oversight problem with all the DVD's issued by Lion's Gate of this movie. I purchased my own new DVD for my collection, and it too listed the Cast/Crew commentary on the case but only had the single main English audio track. I do not know if there truly ever was a full-length commentary track recorded or not. It does make me wonder.
The DVD does contain some deleted scenes, but most of these aren't great scenes, and most people won't even even care that they didn't make it into the final film.
All in all, a wonderful film with only an average DVD release which is currently overpriced by the studio.