While "Son Of Saul" might not have walked away with the Palme d’Or at Cannes, László Nemes didn’t leave the Croisette empty-handed. His Holocaust drama took the FIPRESCI prize, François Chalais Award, and Grand Prize of the Jury, and rolling into the awards season as Hungary’s official selection, it’s a big Oscar contender. And on top of all that, it boasts an interesting approach.
READ MORE: Review: Visceral Hungarian Holocaust Drama ‘Son Of Saul’
Presented in Academy ratio, and playing out almost in real time, the film eschews music and goes for long takes in depicting the story of Saul Ausländer (Géza Röhrig), a Hungarian Jewish prisoner forced to assist in the Nazis machinery of large scale exterminations. But when Saul discovers the body of a young boy, he takes on the seemingly impossible task of trying to rescue the corpse, so it can be given a proper Jewish burial.
"Son Of Saul" opens on December 18th. Check out the new U.S. trailer below along with two clips.
respect for the camera operator…thats some impressive tracking given the depth of field on some of those shots.