X
- 2015
- R
- Sony Pictures Classics
- 1 h 47 m
- 2015
- R
- Sony Pictures Classics
- 1 h 47 m
Summary October 1944, Auschwitz-Birkenau. Saul Ausländer is a Hungarian member of the Sonderkommando, the group of Jewish prisoners isolated from the camp and forced to assist the Nazis in the machinery of large-scale extermination. While working in one of the crematoriums, Saul discovers the corpse of a boy he takes for his son. As the Sonderko...
Directed By: László Nemes
Written By: Clara Royer, László Nemes
- 2015
- R
- Sony Pictures Classics
- 1 h 47 m
- 2015
- R
- Sony Pictures Classics
- 1 h 47 m
Son of Saul
7.3
Where to Watch
Summary October 1944, Auschwitz-Birkenau. Saul Ausländer is a Hungarian member of the Sonderkommando, the group of Jewish prisoners isolated from the camp and forced to assist the Nazis in the machinery of large-scale extermination. While working in one of the crematoriums, Saul discovers the corpse of a boy he takes for his son. As the Sonderko...
Directed By: László Nemes
Written By: Clara Royer, László Nemes
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
Based on 49 Critic Reviews
91
96% Positive
47 Reviews
47 Reviews
4% Mixed
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
Based on 49 Critic Reviews
91
96% Positive
47 Reviews
47 Reviews
4% Mixed
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
It’s not the banality of evil that chills so much here as its matter-of-factness. This is really something.
Röhrig’s performance is an extraordinary feat of minimalism. His expressions convey a deadened spirit. Yet behind his eyes and at the corners of his mouth are signs of a spirit that won’t be crushed.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 166 User Ratings
7.3
74% Positive
123 Ratings
123 Ratings
14% Mixed
23 Ratings
23 Ratings
12% Negative
20 Ratings
20 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 166 User Ratings
7.3
74% Positive
123 Ratings
123 Ratings
14% Mixed
23 Ratings
23 Ratings
12% Negative
20 Ratings
20 Ratings
Excelente película sobre el holocausto. Muy recomendable. Cruda, pero se revive lo que pasó en esa época.
Report
It’s that devotion to truth that makes Son of Saul such a difficult watch — and also one of year’s most important masterpieces.
In terms of filmmaking prowess, "remarkable" may not do Laszlo Nemes' holocaust drama "Son of Saul" justice.
The remarkable thing is that Son of Saul is a début: Nemes has never directed a full-length film before. As for Röhrig, he is a poet as well as an actor, born in Budapest and now living in the Bronx. If neither of them made another movie, this one would suffice.
There's nothing trivial about this Hungarian masterwork from first-time director László Nemes. You don't merely witness horror, you feel it in your bones.
The movie doesn’t expand in your mind — it shrinks along with its protagonist, its conclusion a reductio ad absurdum.
Nie ważne jak dużo filmów o Holokauście widzieliście. Ten jest kompletnie inny.
Akcja filmu ukazuje 48 godzin z życia tytułowego Szawła. Od razu ostrzegam, że nie jest to film lekki, lub podchodzący do tematyki z dystansem. Jest to bardzo realistyczne ukazanie tego jak wyglądało masowe mordowanie ludności żydowskiej. Przez większość filmu śledzimy akcje zza pleców gł. bohatera. Sprawia to, że immersja w historie jest całkowita. Wielu rzeczy nie widzimy, ponieważ całe tło po za głównym bohaterem jest rozmyte (oczywiście nie całkowicie). Za to działa na naszą wyobraźnie zupełnie co innego - dźwięk. Jęki, krzyki, przekleństwa, rozmowy, strzały, itd. Jest to zaskakujący zabieg i bardzo odważny, ale w rezultacie obraz wydaje się być mocniejszy w odbiorze. Nasza wyobraźnia pracuje na pełnych obrotach.
Moim zdaniem jest to film wybitny. Obowiązkowy dla każdego. O historii trzeba pamiętać.
Report
Crushing and beautiful at times but the films freezes throughout its running much like the scenes of despair it creates, cold and numbing.
Report
It won Grand Prize in Cannes (2nd place), and the oscar for foreign film, from Hungary. It is a visceral film, lots of closeups, very drab coloring. I can appreciate that he wants a burial for his son, but he seems blind to everything else and seems selfish. It feels like it is filmed in a few long takes, that's always impressive.
Report
Son of Saul is one of those important films that comes so steeped in the injustices and horrors of its history that one feels positively guilty about saying anything negative about it. This unique perspective on the holocaust atrocities has us following Saul, a Hungarian Jew, working as a Sonderkommando at Auschwitz/Birkenau. Here his daily work is to herd hundreds of his fellow race naked into the gas chambers and subsequently remove the bodies, effecting a clean-up of all traces of the horror. After one such routine a young boy is discovered, barely alive, having survived the gas. From this point in, although the boy subsequently dies, Saul becomes obsessed by having him properly buried by a Rabbi. The ambiguity surrounding whether or not the boy is actually Saul’s son casts the actions of the protagonist in a contrasting light, depending on viewer interpretation. It is precisely this unanswered question that causes confusion in the narrative which, in turn, has an overall detrimental impact.
The film’s style further distances. Told from Saul’s viewpoint almost totally, one watches intently but real emotional involvement is kept at bay. Long tracking shots, out of focus imagery and an in your face claustrophobic feel becomes somewhat overwhelming. Likewise, the frenetic and dizzying camera movements don’t always allow time to process exactly what is happening. I’m sure this is intentional and in keeping with the chaotic context but, as cinema it is frustratingly unsatisfying.
There are two standout sequences, however. The first, where Saul finds himself stripped naked awaiting execution and the second involves an escape.
Overall the film cries out to be seen (the critics seem to have been inventing superlatives for it). I just wish that I liked it as much as I appreciate it.
Report
Il faut toujours aborder avec précaution et circonspection les "palmes" du Festival de Cannes ; il faut s'y préparer psychologiquement, il faut rester fort. Surtout avec un film hongrois non doublé bien entendu.
Remarquez, il aurait été doublé que ça aurait été un gâchis impardonnable : il n'y a rien de pire que de mobiliser nos meilleurs doubleurs pour doubler... euh un "truc" pareil. Bref, ça ferait mal au cul, comme on dit.
Pourtant, le sujet qui concerne les camps de la mort suscite évidemment une curiosité certaine. Mais souvent, la curiosité est un vilain défaut et on comprend pourquoi ici. Difficile donc de décrire cette "palme" mais nous tenterons néanmoins de le faire à nos risques et périls.
Le film est en 4/3 et le film est à 95% (ou peut-être 97%) filmé derrière l'épaule du rôle principal et on sent bien que pour les 5 ou 3% restants, ça emmerde le réalisateur de filmer autre chose que l'épaule de l'acteur ou sa brave tronche de prisonnier. La caméra suit donc à la trace le gars et garde la mise au point exclusivement sur lui ; de cette façon, tout le reste est flou... et pendant tout le putain de film, on ne sait pas ce qui se passe dans le camp parce qu'on ne voit que la tronche ou l'épaule du pauvre gars qui veut enterrer son fiston.
C'est donc pas regardable, ni au début, ni au milieu, ni à la fin. Et à part une scène précise (les exécutions au bord de la fosse) on pourrait se trouver dans n'importe endroit avec des prisonniers, n'importe quel camp de travail. Sauf que quand même ça parle allemand beaucoup évidemment et qu'on apprend la langue assez vite avec "ya wol et arbeit".
Le plus dingue dans tout ça, c'est que le film passe directement par dessus la tête et que son impact est réduit à zéro. Et pourtant, un camp de la mort, ce n'est pas une simple anecdote. Mais avec ce film réalisé par un demeuré, ça le devient et ça l'est. Et les débiles à l'asile de Cannes, ils lui filent la palme. Nous aussi, on lui donne la "palme" mais pas pour les mêmes raisons...
Report
Production Company
Laokoon Filmgroup,
Hungarian National Film Fund
Release Date Dec 18, 2015
Duration 1 h 47 m
Rating R
Website
http://www.facebook.com/SaulFia
Awards
Academy Awards, USA
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
Golden Globes, USA
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
Cannes Film Festival
• 4 Wins & 6 Nominations
