Film: The Grey Zone -- Superb

by MegaDude 7 Replies latest social entertainment

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  MegaDude

  This is the story of the men, Jews, who worked in the concentration camps cleaning out the gas chambers full of dead bodies and putting them one by one into the creamatoriums. They plot an uprising. Not to escape, which is impossible. They will be hunted down and killed if they tried that. Their goal is to blow up the creamatoriums in the camp. It's a defiant gesture only. They have no illusions. They know they will all be killed in the attempt.

  The problem is when to make their move. They are getting weapons and explosive powder from the Jewish female prisoners that work in the Nazi munitions factory.

  Then something happens they never could have foreseen.

  A young girl survives a gassing. She's barely 15 years old. What do the men do with one of their own? If they hide her, they run the risk of getting caught. The alternative is to kill her, but even they can't bring themselves to do that despite the horrors they witness every day. A raid in the female concentration camp exposes the smuggling of the explosive powder. The Nazis begin torturing the women to get them to confess where it was headed and why. The men know they have to make a decision and make it fast.

  The film explores personal conscience, the desperate desire to live despite horrific circumstances, and shows better than any film I have ever seen the desire of all people to have something good come of their life, some real meaning, even if that cost is death.

  Warning. This film is not Schindlers List. It is very, very explicit and rough to watch. If you're squeamish or if dark subject matter disturbs you, skip this one. .

  Based on a true story.

  My pick for best film of the year.

  If you enjoyed the book "Man's Search For Meaning," you might like this film.
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  DanTheMan

  Here's a link to the movie's promo site:

  http://www.thegreyzonethefilm.com/

  Sounds pretty intense. I might wait for DVD, sometimes seeing such an intense movie on the big screen is just a little too much for me.

  I've just started Frankl's book.
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  LB

  Sounds intense. I can't find it playing in our area though. I also may have to wait until it's out on DVD.
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  MegaDude

  LB,

  It is intense. There are some scenes in that film I will remember for a very long time. It made Schindler's List seem like a watered down version of the Holocaust. The main part of the film deals with the prisoners and their conscience, their values, even under the worst of circumstances.

  The film is based on a play which in turn is based on the true story of one of the three concentration camp rebellions that happened. Sometimes the scenes and dialogue sound exactly like you're watching a play, but I didn't feel it took away from its power. The first 30 minutes are a bit muddled where you're introduced to a lot of characters and the plot. Then it really hooked me.

  The herd mentality of the Jewish prisoners and their Nazi captors reminded me so much of the JWs in the organization. You really root for the few who stand up and take on the Germans even though they know they don't have a chance in hell of winning. I thought it was depressing and uplifting at the same time.
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  Joyzabel

  I just read a review in the paper today about this movie. Well, it was really about David Arquette and how he can play a serious character. Will have to watch for when the film comes to po-dunk! sounds good.

  j2bf
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  LB

  Sounds like it might be even better than the purple triangles.

  If it gets to our burg I'll watch it, but I know I'll have to be in the right frame of mind for it.
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  MegaDude

  From the net....

  Auschwitz-Birkenau: At Auschwitz-Birkenau, an elaborate underground network of Jewish and non-Jewish prisoners planned a revolt. By summer 1944, Soviet forces were advancing swiftly from the east, and the Allies from the west. Transports had slowed to Auschwitz-Birkenau, where the Nazis had murdered more than one million Jews and tens of thousands of others.

  Most of the non-Jewish underground backed out of the planned revolt after the failure of the Warsaw uprising by the Polish resistance in August 1944 and after the Polish underground outside of Auschwitz became aware that the Germans had learned about the plan. Underground leaders issued orders to give up the revolt.

  But members of the Jewish Sonderkommando, sensing that the end was near and their usefulness to the Germans over, went ahead with the plan with help from some Soviet prisoners of war. On October 7, 1944, in a daring act of desperation, a group of prisoners blew up one of Birkenau's four crematoria using dynamite the underground had smuggled from a nearby munitions factory to the Sonderkommando. Six hundred prisoners escaped after the explosion, but all were either captured or killed as they fled.

  On January 6, 1945, less than three weeks before the Soviet liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, four young women accused of supplying the dynamite -- Roza Robota, Ella Gaertner, Esther Wajcblum, and Regina Safirsztain -- were hanged in the presence of the remaining inmates. As the trap door opened, Robota shouted defiantly, "Be strong; have courage!" Before her execution, guards had tortured her brutally, but she had refused to divulge the names of any members of the resistance.
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  LyinEyes

  Wow , you give it a better rating than "Red Dragon", which I havent seen yet.. can't wait thou, book was awesome. So if this movie is as good as you say,,,,,,, can't wait to see this one too. Thanks for the info on it, and the suggestion as a must see.

  LB, lol........Purple triangles could have been great....... but god the WT just doesnt know how to present such a strong story, and they never will. But that was funny what you said, no disrepect to the ones who were in the story of Purple Triangles, but I am sure this story will be better told.