Son of Saul (2015)

A Glimpse Into Hell — Through One Man’s Eyes

Set in Auschwitz-Birkenau in 1944, Son of Saul follows Saul Ausländer (played with heartbreaking restraint by Géza Röhrig), a Hungarian-Jewish prisoner forced to work as a member of the Sonderkommando — Jews compelled to assist in the machinery of extermination. His job is to clean gas chambers, remove bodies, and dispose of ashes.

Amid this daily horror, Saul comes across the body of a boy he believes to be his son. In a world stripped of dignity and meaning, he becomes obsessed with a single goal: to give the child a proper Jewish burial, no matter the cost.

What unfolds is a grim yet poetic journey of resistance — not in the form of violence, but in the form of spiritual defiance.

A Groundbreaking Cinematic Approach

What sets Son of Saul apart is its visual and narrative technique. Nemes and cinematographer Mátyás Erdély employ a tight 4:3 aspect ratio, keeping the camera relentlessly close to Saul’s face. The viewer sees only what Saul sees — often out of focus, fragmented, and brutal. There are no sweeping shots of the camp, no overt dramatization, and no emotional manipulation. Instead, the horror is suggested, ambient, and suffocatingly real.

The sound design — filled with indistinct screams, industrial noise, and murmured prayers — immerses the audience in a world where death is routine, and humanity is all but lost.

Critical Acclaim and Awards

Son of Saul premiered at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Grand Prix. It went on to win dozens of awards worldwide, including:

• Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film (2016)

• Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film

• BAFTA Award for Best Film Not in the English Language

• Independent Spirit Award for Best International Film

Critics praised it as “harrowing,” “brilliant,” and “an act of moral and artistic courage.” It was lauded not just as a Holocaust film, but as a meditation on guilt, faith, trauma, and the desperate need for meaning in the face of annihilation.

Legacy and Impact

A decade after its release, Son of Saul continues to be studied in film schools, taught in Holocaust education programs, and revered by filmmakers and scholars alike. It broke conventions of Holocaust storytelling by avoiding sentimentality and focusing instead on physical and psychological immersion.

László Nemes' vision reshaped how the atrocities of the 20th century could be represented — not as history from a distance, but as personal, suffocating memory.

Final Thoughts

Son of Saul is not an easy film to watch — nor should it be. It is a relentless, claustrophobic, and deeply humane portrait of a man grasping for dignity in the most undignified of places. It is cinema not only as witness but as testimony — a reminder that even in humanity’s darkest moments, the act of remembering, honoring, and resisting still matters.