Son of Saul

This film was depressing. It reminded me of all the Holocaust stories I've heard and read about and it just felt the same. Woeful. Unfortunately, I also found this film rather boring.

I did appreciate the cinematography in that you never see a wide shot until the very end when the little boy runs away from the demise of our main characters, disappearing into a beautifully serene woodland. It feels close and intense. However, it also felt a bit headachey. I felt the need to focus on every shot which was more or less an expressionless countenance of our hero who wants to bury the body of a child who may not even be his. It's still a bit of a mystery.

Why did Saul want to bury a child? Out of so many? Is he holding onto the last piece of sentiment and love he has for any other by doing so? Is he scared for his soul as well as the child's? I don't know. It's brave and endearing for someone to want to do something so incredibly dangerous given the circumstances but a part of me also thinks it's utter folly. He almost drowns trying to hold onto the wrapped up corpse in a river. "You have forsaken the living for the dead". That line sums it up for me.

To recapitulate on the point I made about Saul's indifference, I think perhaps that only emphasizes the absolute horror of the work he and his compatriots were forced to carry out. And it worked. Weirder still is that I started to grow indifferent to it also. Maybe that's what the director wanted, to emulate the barren morality displayed at these death camps. We do live in a world in which violence is somewhat desensitized on our screens. Nonetheless, as I said previously, the plot didn't grip me enough so the way it was shot only elicited more sighs of light boredom towards the end.

Either way, it was compelling. The story coupled with the direction and unending grey of the film, however, induced a state of ennui for me. Guess I'm just a cunt.

3 stars out of 5