The Grey Zone: The Director's Notes and Screenplay

From Publishers Weekly
Nelson's 2001 film, in which a Nazi doctor and the Sonderkommando (Jews who were forced to work in the crematoria of Auschwitz) find themselves in a moral gray zone, garnered a National Board of Review Award. This record of Nelson's travails tells how the director researched the history surrounding the drama, assembled the cast (which includes David Arquette, Steve Buscemi and Harvey Keitel) and reconstructed the crematoria in Bulgaria. Nelson admits he's not a scholar or a historian, yet his meticulous representation of the predicament faced by the Sonderkommandos deserves recognition. He describes the grisly details of how he portrayed life at Auschwitz and the attempted rebellion that is at the movie's core, and his shooting strategy (although the film is quite violent, he didn't want to seem "to be detailing that violence as entertainment"). In addition to the script and film stills, this volume also shares a powerful excerpt from Primo Levi's The Drowned and the Saved. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Stanley Kauffmann, The New Republic
The screenplay is tight and forceful, free of heroics and rhetoric.

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly
Fearless and intense...No dramatic feature has ever come quite this close to the matter-of-fact ugliness of the Nazi crimes.

Stephen Holden, The New York Times
Unprecedented.

Book Description
A stunning foray into the mind and actions of the acclaimed actor/writer/director who worked for more than five years to produce first a play, then a movie, now a book—his most personal work to date, a searing Holocaust drama starring David Arquette, Daniel Benzali, Steve Buscemi, David Chandler, Allen Corduner, Harvey Keitel, Natasha Lyonne, and Mira Sorvino. Tim Blake Nelson's powerful account of what inspired him, and how he prepared himself and others to make this haunting movie, reveals how and why a writer/director chooses such a difficult subject and surmounts its challenges. First realized as a play, which earned numerous awards, the story is based on historical events, centering on Auschwitz's twelfth Sonderkommando squad, prisoners assigned work in the crematoria, and their struggle to organize the only armed revolt in October of 1944. Financed by Millennium Films, produced by Killer Films, and released by Lions Gate Films in the US, The Grey Zone debuted in the United States in October 2002, garnering major media attention. This book is the definitive record of Nelson's journey—from his initial readings and research, to assembling a brave cast that could tackle the material, to reconstructing the crematoria 80 percent to scale on location outside of Sofia, Bulgaria, and to his work with the art director, costume and production designers, and others on his team. To acquaint his cast and crew with the difficult material, Nelson summarized his research and his cinematic vision in a compelling, lengthy pre-production memo, which is reproduced in this book. Also included are his screenplay, his annotated reading list, movie stills, excerpts from an essay by Primo Levi, and the source chapter from the book Auschwitz: A Doctor's Eyewitness Account, by Dr. Miklos Nyiszli.

About the Author
Tim Blake Nelson is best known for his acting roles in O Brother, Where Art Thou?, Minority Report, The Good Girl, The Thin Red Line, among others. He made his film writing/directing debut with Eye of God. He is also an award-winning playwright of such plays as Eye of God, The Grey Zone, and Andadarko. He is a graduate of Brown University and Juilliard Theater Center. Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, he lives with his wife and sons in New York City.


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This book is the fascinating record of Nelson's journey -- from his initial readings and research, to assembling the brave ensemble cast, to reconstructing the crematoria 80 percent to scale on location in Sofia, Bulgaria, and to his work with the art director, costume and production designers, and others on his team. To acquaint his cast and crew with the difficult material, Nelson summarized his research, his cinematic vision, and his personal beliefs in a compelling, lengthy preproduction memo, which is reproduced in this book, along with his screenplay, movie stills, and excerpts from some of the readings that inspired him -- an essay by Primo Levi and a chapter from the book Auschwitz: A Doctor's Eyewitness Account by Dr. Miklos Nyiszli. Altogether, this unique book delivers an insider's view of the world of independent filmmaking, while revealing why Nelson chose such a difficult project and how he addressed its challenges. Ultimately, The Grey Zone transcends its subject so that as Nelson writes in his preface, "Its context is the holocaust, but it's a film about being human."


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