I believe this film
will stand the test of time as one of the most effective depictions of life
inside Nazi Prison camps.
Dark, as it should be, grim and shot in a manner
that induces near-suffocating claustrophobia, Saul Fia is one horrifying
experience that has not been made to bring the audience to tears, unlike other
films that have already broached this subject before (on a much bigger scale
too).
Through his film, László Nemes captures the POV of a single prisoner, Saul
Auslander, as he salvages the body of a boy whom he takes to be his son and
attempts to find a Rabbi to bury it. Saul, who works as a Sonderkommando (a
special group of prisoners, made to work at the camp for a few months before
being executed), burning bodies of his own people at the Auschwitz Crematorium,
views this as his only opportunity to redeem himself.
Saul's perspective is
narrow when we meet him at the beginning, as would be the case with any person
put in a position as bleak as his. And his quest to give what he believes to be
his son's body a proper burial narrows it down even further.
Saul's vision is
limited and his face the face of a man whose appetite to know more has withered
away completely. Beyond a point, it is evident that he is least curious in even
watching what is happening around him, so long as it doesn't concern or affect
his own petty quest.
And to make the
audience experience effectively this hopeless narrowness, Nemes uses long takes
that do not cut before making one feel squeamish atleast three times in a row
and fills up every frame of the film with Saul- either his face or the back of
it. Saul is the point of focus in almost all the shots, whereas the inhuman
activities occurring inside the gas chamber, the crematorium and other parts of
prison are either partially or completely out of focus, or only shown through
quick glimpses (although the sound more than makes up for the absence of
visuals, I should warn you).
Half hour into Son of
Saul, I felt my stomach had already gone hollow. And the rest of the film only
increased that sickening sensation.
Géza Röhrig who plays the protagonist is one heck of an
actor. To pull off something this intense without a hint of overtness,
especially in the long takes, is no mean feat.
I found the film
difficult to watch in places due to the jerky camera movements, however, given
the theme, I understand that such shots were intentional and
necessarily so.
Overall, Son of Saul
scores an easy four out of five on my rating scale. A deserving Oscar nod for
best film (foreign language).
Yes, the film left me
dry-eyed, but not for lack of empathy towards the characters. Empathy being the
ability to understand and share the feelings of another, I should say it was
actually the opposite. I empathized too well with Saul's tearless-ness to shed
any myself.
Harrowing but
recommended.
Catch trailer here:
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