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The Grey Zone

1 disc
Region 1 USA/CA (info)

Writer-director-actor Tim Blake Nelson presents THE GREY ZONE, a relentlessly bleak drama that uses one of history's most incomprehensible calamities to address the ultimate question of human survival. Based in large part on Miklos Nyiszli's book, AUSCHWITZ: A DOCTOR'S EYEWITNESS ACCOUNT, THE GREY ZONE is set in the nightmarish world of Auschwitz in the 1940s. The film tells the brutal tale of the twelfth Sonderkommando unit, Jewish prisoners who were granted a few extra months of life in return for their services in helping with the genocide of their people. While organizing a revolt against the Nazis, a group of Sonderkommandos (played with ferocious intensity by David Arquette, Daniel Benzali, David Chandler, and Steve Buscemi) discover a young girl who has somehow managed to survive the gas chamber. Risking their lives, they team up with a fellow Jew, Doctor Nyiszli (Allan Corduner), to revive the fragile youngster and redeem themselves in the process. Nelson's excruciating drama is all the more unsettling for its unflinching honesty. By placing his characters in a world suffused with death, he creates an unbearable scenario where every decision determines the fate of dozens, if not hundreds, of innocent lives. THE GREY ZONE also features deeply impassioned performances by Harvey Keitel, Mira Sorvino, and Natasha Lyonne.
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Additional Info

Manufacturer Part Number (MPN): VM8238-D
Credits

David Arquette, Daniel Benzali, Steve Buscemi, Allan Corduner, Harvey Keitel, Mira Sorvino, Natasha Lyonne, David Chandler
Critic Reviews

"...THE GREY ZONE is certainly an honorable film..."
New York Times
"...Nelson has a strong sense of movement and imagery..."
USA Today
"...The film's fearless and unflinching detail is matched by its subtle psychological force..."
Entertainment Weekly
"...It builds powerful emotion by the end....The actors -- David Arquette, Mira Sorvino, Steve Buscemi and Harvey Keitel -- give moving performances..."
Movieline's Hollywood Life