DVD: Gray Matter
Published by Docurama
Reviewed by Erick Mertz

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While the parameters of Nazi atrocity are well known, there are still offshoots of Hitler's hatred that have gone unexamined. During the 1930s, Vienna doctors, in particular Doctor Heinrich Gross - a.k.a. the Austrian Dr. Mengele -- performed experiments on the brains of over 700 handicapped children. They were clinically euthanized (often via a protracted program of torture and starvation) due to diagnoses such as epilepsy, mental retardation and "anti-social personalities" under the auspices of a scientific eugenics program; 60 years later, those brains are still in storage at the clinic, only recently retired from scientific relevance. Documentary filmmaker Joe Berlinger (Brother's Keeper, Paradise Lost, Metallica: Some Kind of Monster) makes a government funeral for those remains, and the history of Gross' persecution and avoidance of justice his subject for the riveting film, Gray Matter.

While the film is undoubtedly jarring and generally informative, the major criticism of Berlinger's work might be that it lacks depth. The subject is profound, and its antagonist a haunting image of Nazi cruelty (bearing a strong physical resemblance to Dick Cheney), but there just isn't enough in Gray Matter to push it into the ranks of a truly great documentary. It doesn't plumb the depths of any of its aspects, feeling more like a complementary piece than a main story. Footage of the mass funeral is repeated - the same dozen children's photographs come up over and over, and the chase for Gross ends without a real resolution. While a lack of resolution isn't in itself a weakness in this or any film, Berlinger doesn't utilize Gross' avoidance to the advantage of his film.

© 2005 - Erick Mertz