'Son of Saul' is as upsetting and unimaginable as you would anticipate a film about the Holocaust would be. It is quite unique in terms of its story and how it's portrayed. It's interesting to learn about the Sonderkommandos, a term I somehow wasn't overly familiar with to be honest. Géza Röhrig is outstanding in the leading role, one that requires some big acting chops given the character doesn't speak too often. How crazy that he, so I read, hadn't acted in film for a few decades up until this. The only thing more surprising is that this is director László Nemes' directorial debut!

Watching this film is a bit like having poor eye sight, and then sitting behind someone tall in the cinema, so that you can only see 1/3 of what's going on in the background. While the themes are intense and thought providing, I would not recommend this unless you are a fan of long closeups.

Ambientado em Auschwitz, durante a Segunda Guerra Mundial, "Filho de Saul" é pesado e difícil de assistir — assim como qualquer filme ambientado durante o Holocausto —, mas oferece uma singular experiência visual, movida por um profundo foco no protagonista e sua experiência no campo de concentração. É o tipo de filme que eu nunca mais vou assistir novamente, mas a imersiva experiência visual valeu uma visita.

A masterpiece. The treatment Sonderkommando have received in the decades since the war is disgraceful. I hope this helps with their long overdue vindication.

One of the few films about the Holocaust that's willing to be an unrelenting nightmare. I'm not sure if I could ever revisit it but I respect that the filmmakers never compromise on their bleak, pessimistic narrative.

Maybe it's me but I watch a lot of holocaust films and this one felt meh compared to the others, as the language was different and subtitles didn't add much depth, knowing the background story's importance in society bumps my rating by one star, but to be honest is not a movie that you will remember for more than a day.

I don’t understand why this movie has so high ratings, the camera work is annoying and upsetting, during the whole movie all you see is the main character’s (Saul) back, shoulders or face on 2/3 of the screen, what little you can make up behind him is blurry, and you have to go by sound and imagination. Yes, we all now what happened at the extermination camps, but still, looking at the same face, shoulders and neck for 100 minutes is a little much, specially considering the whole story revolves around him trying to find a rabbi to properly bury his son, who is already dead at the beginning of the movie and ready to be thrown into the incinerators. A ridiculous idea considering he hides the body on different spots throughout the camp with somehow nobody running into it, while at the same time he seems to move freely between gates looking for said rabbi, whom, by the way, he never finds. This is a story based on the EXCELLENT book Auschwitz, a Doctor’s Eyewitness Account, by Dr. Miklos Nyiszli. Do yourself a favor and read the book. 10 times more harrowing than this movie.

Why this movie has such great reviews is beyond me. This had an extremely poor film choice. I dont know if it was to hide poor acting, poor movie sets, poor budgeting or was some "artistic style" but spending over 2 hrs staring at the back of somebody's head with nothing else in focus drove me insane. Might as well go stare at the back of somebody's head for 2 hrs waiting in line at the county fair for a ride. At least there would be some payoff there. But this was about 2/3 screen just shoulders and hair for the entire movie. The dialog was poor, the main character was unlikable. You couldn't tell who was saying what since nobody was in focus or looking at the camera. Just all around poor movie. I think the director was trying to make it seem like the character was only focusing on himself and thats why he was the only thing in focus but there was 1000 more ways they could have portrayed that. 0 stars.

Far from trapping us with the classic re-enactment of Nazi cruelty, filmmaker László Nemes' proposal is as transgressive as Soah (1985) was in its time, fleeing the trauma of the Holocaust within the film frame itself. In fact, there is an absence, a void in the shot. We see nothing because there is nothing to see, as the philosopher Didi Huberman affirms, for whom it is not possible to offer a response in the face of so much barbarism.

Breathtaking! Utilizing the burial story as an excuse to show to the viewers some of the most detailed scenes of what took place in concentration camps, is a brilliant idea. Focusing the shot on Saul's face while running all the atrocities in the vague background of the scene. Brilliant story telling, brilliant acting and wonderful photography. Courageous approach to showing documented details of those crimes while still following the thread of a touching story about the "son's" burial, with one-sequence shooting for each scene.

Saul (Geza Rohrig) is a prisoner at Aushwitz, allowed to survive in exchange for his services at the gas chamber, where he impassively gathers the belongings of the executed, removes the bodies, and scrubs clean the chamber. In the midst of plans for a prisoner revolt, he finds meaning and purpose in ensuring a proper burial for an executed boy…who may or may not be his son. Based on the subject matter alone, Son of Saul is a difficult film to watch, filled with depravity and unimaginable horror. Further increasing the impact is the style in which it was made – continuous lengthy, uninterrupted takes with a handheld camera gives it a heightened sense of realism, effectively capturing the madness of the prisoners' plight. Worthy of the accolades heaped on it, Son of Saul is guaranteed to be memorable viewing.

The best international movie ever made!

Essential viewing for those who watch the genre or looking to understand the human perspective of a truly inhuman chapter in history. The film is deeply moving but also a technical work of genius.

Unlike many Holocaust films, there is no moment of horrific discovery in Son of Saul, where a protagonist turns a corner to realize that they are not destined for internment or forced labor but systematic execution; instead, the lead (Géza Röhrig as Saul Ausländer) is not only aware of his circumstances, but horifically numb to them as a forced member of the Sonderkommando. Saul operates mechanically, retreating into routine to dull the pain of the atrocities that he witnesses on a daily basis, until he recognizes a child in the gas chambers that may or may not be his illegitimate son and subsequently takes great risks to give the boy a proper burial according to the Jewish tradition. In embarking on his effort, Saul brings up questions of identity and faith, as those who choose to support or deny him are implicitly deciding on the importance of practical risk vs. a less tangible goal - not only to put themselves in harm's way to help another, but whether religious rights for a dead boy outweigh the risks to the living. Blurs the line between genuine compassion, a futile gesture, and the last gasps of a crushed soul. Strikingly unromanticized and devoid of melodrama in its depiction of Auschwitz, suspenseful (with its tight POVs and hushed conversations), and (of course) dark in tone, Son of Saul is far from easy viewing but it forms one of the more compelling takes on the greatest human tragedy of the 20th century. It's tough enough watching this at home, on the big screen might have turned my stomach, despite the lack of gore. (4/5)

"You failed the living for the dead." A harrowing, visceral and morally complex journey through hell. In the bleak world of a concentration camp, a man risks everything for a small act of faith and defiance. Unconventional in its narrative approach, Son of Saul is a film I will never watch again but will never forget. Cautiously recommend this masterpiece.

A moving Holocaust film that is hindered by the cinematography that becomes tiring and confusing, a mediocre and vague script and acting that is sometimes overly dramatic. The first scene of this film is very well put together and acted; with the main actor portraying the emotional distraught he feels just from his facial expressions. However, the problem is this is mostly the only expression we get from him throughout the film. The cinematography, though intriguing at first, becomes confusing to the viewer as you do not get a sense of where you are and who the other characters in the film are. Although, at times, you do feel the sheer terror from these prisoners in the background. I also don't think the script was very well-written. A lot of the conversations are vague with long stares at the end of most conversations that go on too long. I thought the main plot line surrounding the dead boy was compelling but I never got a sense as to why Saul was so interested in this boy as opposed to the others who had died. Other scenes I thought were out of place included the shovel throwing scene. The film won the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar and, although I haven't seen the other nominees, I believe it was not deserved. Overall, a film, that at times capture the horrors of that period, but a number of problems with the script, direction and a style of filming that hinders the film's more dramatic scenes, stop it from being one of the more impactful Holocaust films.

Absolute garbage How it won an academy award is beyond me

An unconventionally made film about one of modern society's darkest events, Son of Saul follows a man interred in a Nazi concentration camp who is forced to aid in the extermination of thousands of ‘undesirables'. It's filmed in the style of a Darren Aronofsky project, something like Black Swan or The Wrestler, where many of the shots are over the shoulder, allowing us to follow the lead and see the world through their point of view. It's repetitive in places, and the camerawork can often be disorientating, but that's largely the point. The Holocaust was a confusing time where little made sense, and I think that's what the filmmakers wanted to convey. Our lead sets himself a mission to bury a boy who is supposedly his son, but keeps getting caught up in the whirlwind of events around him. Everything looks hot, foul and dirty, the claustrophobic sets and relative rarity of cuts make everything feel very tight and confined. We are seeing things from a human point of view, not as a fly on the wall, and it makes the film feel more like you are a participant in the action, rather than an observer of it. The style of directions might be of-putting for some, but its themes are universal, and as such it's a film that everybody should consider seeing. Regardless of its faults, Son Of Saul is a film you won't soon forget.

outstanding pov absolutely devastating, the state of humanity during this point in history

One of the greatest WW2 movies ever made, if not the best. Don't worry about subtitles...this is all about acting. Not a lot of dialog. Even better than Schindler's List. Very dark. Incredible! 5 stars doesn't come close!