Review: Son of Saul

Let me start off by saying that this film is not something you can just watch. You have to be prepared for what it's going to offer, and be emotionally ready for how it will leave you. Son of Saul stars Géza Röhrig as Aüslander Saul, a Jewish man being put to work as a "sonderkommando," or "keeper of secrets," which is essentially the most able-bodied prisoners being used to do the dirty work for the Nazi troops in the concentration camps. The film opens with a long follow shot, the camera staying solely focused on Saul, escorting fellow Jewish prisoners into what they think is going to be the showers. After they go inside and the doors close, Saul and his fellow sonderkommando workers began taking down their clothes and searching for valuables. Some time passes and, when they're sent to clean the room and move the bodies, Saul sees a boy who he believes is his son. He embarks on a quest to find a rabbi in the camp who can help him bury his son. I love this story because I don't consider it a war film; t's more about father who's trying to do everything for his child.

Now, to go back to what I said earlier, when I said "solely focused," I mean everything that's not Saul is out of focus. The whole film is set with a focus range that only shows what is important to Saul's character, which is such a genius idea that it somehow makes this film feel more authentic as a timepiece set in war time. So much happened during this time period that it can be hard to recreate everything perfectly. However, even with those extra things out of focus, you were constantly drawn to see what you thought you were "missing," and that only enhanced the experience even more. To add on to that, there was no music, but the sound mixing and effects were so incredibly detailed and frighteningly realistic that music wasn't needed. Saul's face was almost always stoic and blank, yet his face was giving us the whole story as it unfolded. 

This film is one of the best foreign films and best films overall I think I've ever had the chance to witness. It was all in German, Hungarian, & Yiddish while being shown to us with subtitles, but that authenticity really added something as Saul called out for a rabbi over and over in his common tongue. The religious imagery and themes were so well crafted as well that I didn't notice them beyond his name until after I had time to reflect on it. The director and writer made some very smart choices by putting those deeper things in there to see but not highlighting them, and rather fleshing out the human condition in a non-human situation. If you get the chance this week, make the trip to Cinema Center in Fort Wayne and see this film, if it's still running. It's something to behold.