a Sonderkommando looks to right a wrong

Rating: 10/10 (3 January 2017)

I had heard loosely of Sonderkommandos before watching László Nemes's "Saul fia" ("Son of Saul" in English), but the movie takes an unusual approach to it. This is one of the only movies that I've seen in which almost all the focus is literally on one person, with the background blurred. This serves to emphasize the desperation of the protagonist, a Sonderkommando in 1944 Auschwitz, who wishes to give his son a proper burial. Indeed, we see murdered bodies, as well as the atrocities getting committed by the Nazis, but Saul himself is essentially the window into this horrible setting.
It's an outstanding movie in every way. While much of the movie may seem slow, it's like this so that the characters can develop. It grows especially intense during the final fifteen to twenty minutes. But the truth is that the whole movie is excellent. It deserved the awards that it won.
Another Hungarian movie dealing with the experience of the Jews during this period is 1983's "Jób lázadása" ("The Revolt of Job" in English), about a Hungarian boy adopted by a Jewish couple.