Albert Baily

Many movies have been made about the Holocaust and most of them are disturbing to watch. 'The Grey Zone' with its ominous music is one of the most harrowing and haunting movies that is likely to give nightmares. The moral question here is ''how far we human beings as a species are willing and ready to sacrifice our fellow human beings for the sake of preservation of our own lives-even if it means an extra few days of living in a hellish place like Auschwitz. One can see here the utter dark side of the human nature and also the most magnificent side of our nature. No words, books, documentaries or films can do justice to the immense suffering of those unfortunate victims. One can easily ask the question where was God at that time ! The world once came to know the horrors of the holocaust learned to say 'never again' but now with rising anti semitism all over the world, we may well have to say 'yet again' !.....AB.

I watched this film in my home town of Hubballi when I was 18 years old. Being unfamiliar then with English script and dialogues (subtitles/ captions were unavailable at that time), I could not understand every word or phrase. But the dramatic visual display with good photography compensated my difficulty and I was able to follow the plot. Some of the sceneries in the film, (and there are many), are unforgettable e.g.: the burning and sinking of the German ship by the partisans on a leaky boat...the capture and dramatic escape of the allied party during the Greek wedding and the killing of the German female spy by Maria. are all etched in memory even after 55 years later ! The cast is superb with Gregory Peck at his best as captain Mellory. I was saddened to learn much later (from wikipedia) that the female German spy acted by Gia Scala died (in her real life) very young under suspicious circumstances. Whether it was a suicide or a murder is not settled even today ! All in all this WWII film stands along other famous war films like 'Bridge on the river Kwai'...'The Eagle has landed'...'Inglourious Basterds' (sic), Schindler's list and many others. I have now a DVD of the 'Guns of Nazarene' which I watch now and then. It is still very much enjoyable....Al Baily