Son Of Saul - Unsettling, Difficult and Exhausting WW11 Holocaust Visitation

Rating: Null/10 (15 September 2017)

It's not easy to write a critique for a movie of this type – on one hand, it's a brave attempt to portray the almost unbelievable of horrors that were perpetuated by a regime - claiming to be superior in all the arts - putting themselves above any other race - a race setting themselves up to be the most powerful nation on earth. Perhaps, it was this very pomposity that assured them of an ultimate fall from grace (as with the Romans).
This movie however, is approached in such a claustrophobic photographic manner - with a tendency to imitate Kubrick. As with Kubrick's insistence on having overlong stylistic shots, where a camera would endlessly follow behind his subject in an attempt to pad out scenes with limited content. This technique when overused ultimately stretches the interest to snapping point. When will new movie makers stop imitating and form their own style - does everyone have to be the new Kubrick? The same technique eventually killed Kubrick's later works as he lost focus on his stories (that got weaker) to concentrate on their superficial 'style'.
Hungarian writer/director Laszlo Nemes, has a penchant for horror and certainly crammed much of this into his nightmarish vision of life as an inmate, working in a Nazi death camp - hideously forced to witness and assist with the repugnant gassing murders of his own people. Maybe it would have been far more effective had he just got on with telling his shocking story in a time frame that held the audience's attention. As is, 'Saul' leaves the viewer exhausted, wanting to fast forward to a resolve and escape the unrelenting photographic style. Much of the story is good but treated in an inhibiting way, making it a questionable award winner - with 1hr 47mins being far too long for the restrictive treatment of its subject. Low budget movie makers use this hand-held camera technique because it's cheap but there's still a lot to be said for some involving conventional sweep!