Director: Laszlo Nemes
By Alex Watson
In what is undoubtedly 2015 most stunning debut, Laszlo Nemes Son of Saul is possibly the most the harrowing experience you will have this year. Winner of the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival, this picture contain a raw emotion that is unrivaled. Its theme of atonement mixed with an aura of evil surrounding the Auschwitz camp will leave its audience stunned. Nemes emerges as the new star of European cinema but be warned this picture is not the faint hearted.
Saul Auslander (Geza Rohrig) works as part of the Sonderkommando in Auschwitz that assists in burning the dead. One day, he comes across the body of a young boy that he believes to be his son. Filled with remorse at being able to provide for him in the real world, Saul goes to great lengths to secure his son the traditional Jewish burial. However, when the camp members learn of their own potential extermination, his plan is put into jeopardy.
Nemes provides Son of Saul with a horrifying opening which gives us a first-hand view of the horrors people cannot speak of. Jewish people are stripped of their clothing and marched towards a gas chamber. Their pain filled cries haunt the air so thickly you just want to look away, all the while the Nazi officers make false assurances of their safety. Seeing Saul impassive face leaning against the chamber door is nothing short of chilling. Among the dead, he finds the body of his son and steals it away so he can find a rabbi to perform a burial. His task is one that is seen as near impossible, but Saul is determined and uses any number of brides, threats and tasks to carry this out.
There is a tense against the clock feel as the allied armies close in on Auschwitz. Saul's position within the Sonderkommando gives him limited privileges in exchange for performing these horrendous tasks and getting rid of the ashes. Through this unit, there is a planned uprising which could well derail his plan. Whispers also surround the camp of their own potential execution since the commander is asking for a list of 70 men who are not needed. Nemes succeeds in drawing his audience in close so we can be witness to this conspiracy. Mainly his shots are blurred and out of frame, which powerfully coincides with the blurred lines of history. Some memories are not meant to be seen by the human eye.
Throughout Son of Saul, Nemes focuses mainly on the haunted face of Saul. He is an emotionless figure that has been stunned into silence and fills the screen with a quiet yet intense consternation. On the surface, Saul appears resigned to his fate as a non-survivor, but inside he is filled with a fierce desire. One sequence, sees him showing a variety of rarely seen emotions when confronting a possible rabbi while dumping ashes, which quickly turns into a possible suicide attempt. Saul will see his son buried or die trying. During a chest tightening finale where it ambiguously appears the uprising may have finally come, Nemes gives us what is possibly the most heartbreaking final shot this year.
Geza Rohrig is a revelation as Saul and through his haunted and conflicted face, he is able to hold the screen with force. Nemes needed the right man to be able to project the horrors and unspeakable evil of Auschwitz, Rohrig has been that man. Skillfully is able to balance Saul's yearning to atone for the boy he was never able to care for along with his need to survive by any means necessary. Rohrig deserves awards consideration because you will not see a more committed performance in 2015.
Tragically Son of Saul came to too late to make this year's Top 10 list, but rest assured, it would be top 3 material. Nemes' picture is a movie about courage and bravery while among the worst human atrocities. This picture is the best foreign offering of this year.
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