Absolute Masterpiece

Rating: 10/10 (26 April 2016)

Very few movies have the ability to simply suck you into the world they create. But none have been able to do it as well as 'Son of Saul'. This has much to do with the films unusual aspect ratio. Shot in 1.37 : 1 the film is very reminiscent of standard definition format. Not only is it a square but the camera never feels our main characters side. Whether it's behind or in front of him, you only see and hear what he does. It gives the film a claustrophobic, uncomfortable feel. Which is probably what the viewer should be feeling considering the subject matter. Saul is a worker in the Auschwitz concentration camp. He and many others are tasked with cleaning up gas chambers, scrubbing blood off floors, and disposing of burnt corpses. After witnessing a child survive one of these gas chambers, living only for minutes after, Saul (Geza Rohrig) decides that he wants to give this child a proper burial. So, he searches for a Rabbi to bless him.
It's fairly clear early on that Saul is doing this for redemption. Working in this camp has completely changed him. After seeing and doing nothing about all this injustice he seems to see this as an opportunity to actually do something good. But the film also has the balls to suggest that this may not actually be for the best. It asks you to consider what you would do in this situation. Would you protect the dead or the living people around you? It asks you which sacrifice you would make, and it tore me apart.
Considering that this film is Geza Rohrig's first feature, he pulls off one of the best performances of the year. There is so much subtly that he has to portray and he nails it. You feel for him as you would anyone that went through this nightmare. Thanks to him Saul feels like a real person and it makes caring for him and his struggle undeniably visceral. Of course, it helps to have excellent writing to help round out Sauls character.
Laszlo Nemes both wrote and directed this film. And just like Rohrig, this is first feature length picture. Holy crap. There are directors that have made countless pictures who haven't made anything close to this good, and this is his first. What he accomplishes in his direction is nothing short of outstanding.
The film is comprised of many long takes with a lot going on. If you have seen 'The Revenant', this films cinematography and direction is a lot like that. Except this film doesn't have the luxury of wide takes. Which makes the direction all the more impressive. As the camera follows Saul through this we watch helpless, as everything happens just out of reach.
Having nearly everything take place in the background, slightly blurred makes the trapped feeling the movie is going for all the more apparent. Not only that, but it never feels like it's giving a history lesson. It assumes that if you're watching this film then you know what happened during the holocaust. So, it never blatantly tells you what is going on.
It leaves it just out of reach, in the background and puts you there instead of tells you to be there. It makes for a harrowing and uncompromisingly brutal watch. It never goes out of its way to tell you anything but instead shows it to you. It puts you in the moment with its complex characters and takes you on a journey with them. The result is one of the best films to release in past few years, and one that you won't forget for a long long time.