The Grey Zone

The title of Tim Blake Nelson-s harrowing drama of Jewish death camp prisoners who rise up against their captors to -destroy the machinery- refers as much to the compromise and cloudy morality of collaboration as to the gray world coated in the smoke and ash of the crematoriums. Inspired by real-life events at the Auschwitz death camp- The Grey Zone stars David Arquette as a soul-deadened laborer whose being fiercely jolts to life when he finds a young girl alive among the gassed corpses. He-s the heart and soul of an outstanding cast that includes Steve Buscemi and Daniel Benzali as revolt leaders- Allan Corduner as the shunned camp doctor- and Harvey Keitel as the commandant. Nelson-s rapid pacing- intimate shooting- and terse- jagged dialogue give the moral debate a discomforting immediacy as it races a deadline. When doom hangs in the air- sure death creates unique priorities. --Sean Axmaker