The sound mix was very good- it was gritty and sharp as any professional track I've ever heard.
The acting, as pointed out earlier by many, was very theatical- I guess the ensemble was really into representing this era and a little less the living breathing people who had to exist through this hellish time. Can't blame them due to the subject matter.
A new affect I haven't really noticed used in a movie before was that English was used throughout (abeit with contrived accents- not really necessary!), without even attempting to use already tried affects, like using the actual languages (Polish, Hungerian, German, Yiddish) with subtitles. I liked it! I had no problem detecting when one person who could only "speak " German could not understand another "speaking" Yiddish even though they were all speaking English! Good affect!
Much has been said about Keital's lack of dramatic acting- but I think it was a combination of silly accent (like I wrote- it wasn't necessary! He should of just spoke normally- I think we are smart enough to figure out he was "German") and the fact that most people don't realize just how banal evil really is (ask a cop, lawyer, etc...).
The surviving (for a while longer) girl was an interesting aside, a "setup affect" allowing the dramatic ending over-voice at the end of the movie. BTW, such a girl actually existed and was well treated and provided with makeup and other luxuries before her captors grew bored with it and- well you know.
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