Originally when I made my 2019 Blind Spot selections my plan for September was to finally watch the 2002 film The Pianist. I had avoided it because Holocaust movies aren’t exactly a joyride, but more importantly, I have no desire to support criminal director Roman Polanski. However, at the time, in an effort to support the art and not the artist, I thought I’d check it off my list. But then Polanski won the Grand Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival, and I felt sick. I decided I didn’t want to watch any of his movies, so I asked my friends what would be a similar film to The Pianist not made by Polanski. Their resounding answer was Son of Saul, so that’s what I am reviewing today.
Son of Saul is a 2015 Hungarian film from first time director László Nemes. It won the Oscar for Best Foreign Film that year as well as many other prizes. The film stars Géza Röhrig as the aforementioned Saul who works as a Sonderkommando in the concentration camp at Auschwitz. In an attempt at some humanity he tries to find a rabbi to bury a small boy who survives the gas chamber only to be killed soon after.
We see the film from Saul’s perspective in almost a shaky cam technique and it is unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. To say Son of Saul is brutal would be an understatement. I honestly had to take pauses in order to collect myself. Nemes spares no detail as we see the gas chambers in full operation and it’s all done from such an intimate perspective, as if we were on the ground right there, that it is very upsetting. I think you’d have to be a sociopath to not be very unglued by what you see in this film.
Son of Saul is the type of film I will never watch again but the experience will always remain with me. It’s so well made yet unrelenting that it needs to be seen to be understood. Please just make sure you prepare yourself mentally and physically for what you are going to watch (if that is even possible). I’m not overstating it. This film is a tough sit.
But it is definitely worth having that raw experience. Hopefully if more people see films like Son of Saul something so horrific won’t happen again. For that purpose I’m glad I saw it and would recommend it to anyone who is prepared for the experience. This film will certainly stick with you. That’s for sure.
10 out of 10
It feels weird putting a smile worthy graphic on here but obviously it would be a recommendation.
Interesting comparisons. I would say that outside of the Holocaust, this film and The Pianist are quite different both in style and story. The Pianist is one of my all-time favorite films but I do respect the convictions.
As for SoS, I remember seeing it in the theater and eventually being blown away. I say eventually because it took me a little time getting in step with its first-person-ish cinematography. But once I did I was swept away by this film.
It definitely takes some getting used to. I am glad I saw this one at home
I don’t think I could stomach this. But movies like this are so important. I wish holcaust deniers would watch these kinds of things and realize how sickeningly disrespectful their position is. Sadly, such people probably have too little empathy to be moved by even a movie such as this. Anyway, interesting review of a movie I’d never heard of before. Thanks!