Son of Saul-2015

Director László Nemes

Starring Géza Röhrig

Scott’s Review #520

Reviewed November 16, 2016

Grade: A

Son of Saul, arguably the deserving winner of the 2015 Best Foreign Language Film Oscar, is a grim yet refreshing and inventive look at a subject matter cinema has covered at length.

The topic is a heavy, and calling the film a downer is justified, but there is also something brave and even heartwarming about it, and about the central character’s desire to do something decent in the face of death and hatred.

The film is Hungarian and takes place in 1944 when Saul is a prisoner in a Nazi extermination camp.

He is given various duties, considered a “glorified” prisoner, as he takes valuables from the belongings of those gassed and scrubs the floors after the gassing.

He later must dump the dead bodies into a pit to be incinerated.

One day, after a group of Jews is gassed, a young boy is miraculously still breathing. Soon after being discovered, the boy is suffocated. Convinced the boy is his son, Saul is determined to bury the boy properly for religious purposes.

I was immediately struck by two aspects of Son of Saul that set it apart: the camera work and the coloring.

Saul’s character is immediately shoved in our faces from scene one, letting us see things from his point of view. Extreme close-ups of Hungarian actor Geza Rohrig overwhelm the viewer as suffocation is apparent.

When close-ups aren’t used, the camera follows Saul as he performs his duties without emotion, clearly having done them many times before.

We become Saul and experience activities solely as he sees or hears them. This is understated yet compelling.

Secondly, the film has a rustic, beige palette mixed with sickly greens and yellows, muted almost, which is highly effective given the amount of death involved.

Not glossy, the color scheme conveys a sense of ruin and decay without overwhelming the viewer or leaning into total bleakness. The style is a dusty, smoky variety, nauseating at times.

I found this to set Son of Saul apart from other films with the same subject matter, making it distinctive.

Not a happy film, and it’s not a complete downer that leaves you entirely depressed. Saul’s intention to give his son a decent burial (and it is unclear whether the boy is Saul’s son or is hoped to be) is admirable and a small glimmer of goodness in a world full of evil.

Other prisoners aid Saul in his efforts, showing that their world isn’t without hope.

Still, despite the goodness of some of the prisoners, a couple of scenes are tough to take. Early on, dozens of people are huddled naked in a small room.

They are promised coffee, jobs, and most importantly, hope.

Sadly, the viewer quickly realizes the intention is to exterminate them, though the film wisely doesn’t show it visually. A brilliant distinction in Son of Saul is the contrast between the background sound and what is happening near Saul.

We hear the gasping, the pleading, and the screaming of the victims, while the camera stays on Saul and his stoic reactions.

We realize this is a typical day in his life.

Deserving of its accolades in a year of exceptional foreign-language films, Son of Saul (2015) takes a familiar subject matter and adds new, unique elements.

The film also ends on a cliffhanger involving a second young boy, a clever moment in an already superior film.

Oscar Nominations: 1 win-Best Foreign Language Film (won)

Independent Spirit Award Nominations: 1 win-Best International Film (won)