Son of Saul

Introduction

Son of Saul is a 2015 Hungarian war drama set in the Auschwitz concentration camp, where Saul, a Jewish prisoner put to work, witnesses the death of one of the children during an execution, and sets out to try and provide the boy with a burial instead of being burnt along with the rest of the bodies. He doesn't know the child but takes him on as his own son in his mission to give him a send off in a more dignified manner than how the Nazis disposed of the corpses.

Overview

What I love about this whole film, is that it's a nice change to watch a war movie that isn't Americanised for once. It has a very authentic feel and provides an insight into what life was like in a concentration camp without over the top stunts and big actors glorified as heroes of the camp where people are rescued and the ending is happy. In other words, this is very realistic and in a lot of ways very educational to watch. Life expectancy in Auschwitz was roughly 4 months if you was one of the lucky ones...

Final words and the low down

Not having much experience with viewing foreign cinema, in the last few months I've been enjoying how other nations produce movies, Son of Saul is definitely up there as one of my favourites. No flashy special effects, no over the top script, and the acting absolutely superb. From beginning to end Son of Saul is a truly magnificent watch. I want to see more films made in this way, brilliant!

Nothing needs to be added, nothing needs to be taken away, perfect viewing.

I score it 5 sieg heils out of 5